The Illuminated Block is a historical landmark in the Monserrat neighbourhood of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

.

History

The Society of Jesus

Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

 arrived in the newly-founded village of Buenos Ayres in 1608, establishing their first mission on a 2 hectare (5 acre) lot which had earlier been aside by Spanish conquistador

Conquistador

Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...

 Juan de Garay

Juan de Garay

Juan de Garay was a Spanish conquistador.Garay was born in Orduña, Spain. He served under the Spanish crown, in the Viceroyalty of Peru...

 for the future town square. The Jesuits' 1661 sale of the property (which would ultimately become the Plaza de Mayo

Plaza de Mayo

The Plaza de Mayo is the main square in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is flanked by Hipólito Yrigoyen, Balcarce, Rivadavia and Bolívar streets....

) and a gift of an adjacent lot by Isabel de Carvajal allowed the order to build a new, largely self-reliant mission. Work began in 1686 on the Parish of St. Ignatius, a baroque

Baroque architecture

Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...

 structure completed in 1722, and the adjoining College of St. Ignatius was designed by local architect Juan Kraus and built between 1710 and 1729. Becoming the only academy in colonial Buenos Aires to provide a classical education

Classical education movement

The Classical education movement advocates a form of education based in the traditions of Western culture, with a particular focus on education as understood and taught in the Middle Ages. The curricula and pedagogy of classical education was first developed during the Middle Ages by Martianus...

, and the property possessed the city's finest laboratories, museum and library. The center housed the Office of the Advocate General of the Missions (which oversaw the order's numerous, lucrative Indian Reductions

Indian Reductions

Reductions were settlements founded by the Spanish colonizers of the New World with the purpose of assimilating indigenous populations into European culture and religion.Already since the beginning of the Spanish presence in the Americas, the Crown had been concerned...

), as well as a pharmacy (the city's first) opened and operated by an English Jesuit, Father Thomas Falkner

Thomas Falkner

Thomas Falkner was an English Jesuit missionary, active in Patagonia.-Life:He was the son of Thomas Falkner, a Manchester apothecary, and obtained his education at the Manchester grammar school. Later on, having studied medicine under Dr...

.

The 1767 suppression of the Society of Jesus led to the mission's closure, however, as well as an associated one housing a hospital, in the nearby San Telmo district. The academy was closed only temporarily, and was converted in 1772 into the Royal College of San Carlos. The temple was usurped and converted into a cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

 in 1775, though Father Falkner's pharmacy formed the basis for Viceroy Juan José de Vértiz

Juan José de Vértiz y Salcedo

Juan José de Vértiz y Salcedo was a Spanish colonial politician born in New Spain, and Viceroy of the Río de la Plata.-Biography:...

's Medical Court of 1780 - the first school of medicine in what is today Argentina. Viceroy Vértiz also established the city's first printing press at the site, in 1780, as well as an orphanage funded by sales of the facility's printed material.

The center later had an anecdotal role in the Argentine War of Independence

Argentine War of Independence

The Argentine War of Independence was fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli and José de San Martín against royalist forces loyal to the Spanish crown...

. The Regiment of Patricians was briefly headquartered in 1811 at the college, where the regiment staged a failed mutiny against their commander, General Manuel Belgrano

Manuel Belgrano

Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano , usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano, was an Argentine economist, lawyer, politician, and military leader. He took part in the Argentine Wars of Independence and created the Flag of Argentina...

. A network of five underground tunnels intersecting under the former mission (believed to have been built to guarantee the flow of supplies in the event of a siege, and to facilitate smuggling in peacetime) helped safeguard ammunitions during much of the war. The provisional government organized from the May Revolution

May Revolution

The May Revolution was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish colony that included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay...

 of 1810, the First Assembly

Primera Junta

The Primera Junta or First Assembly is the most common name given to the first independent government of Argentina. It was created on 25 May 1810, as a result of the events of the May Revolution. The Junta initially had representatives from only Buenos Aires...

, opened a public library in 1812, and following the War of Independence, Governor Martín Rodríguez inaugurated the University of Buenos Aires

University of Buenos Aires

The University of Buenos Aires is the largest university in Argentina and the largest university by enrollment in Latin America. Founded on August 12, 1821 in the city of Buenos Aires, it consists of 13 faculties, 6 hospitals, 10 museums and is linked to 4 high schools: Colegio Nacional de Buenos...

 and the General Archive, in 1821. A few days later, the city's leading newspaper, El Argos, described the area as the "Illuminated Block" in a September 1, 1821, editorial.

Governor Rodríguez also established the Provincial Legislature and the Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires

Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires

The Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires is a publicly-owned Argentine bank and the second-largest in the nation, by value of assets and deposits.-History:...

 at the site, in 1822, as well as the city's first natural sciences museum

Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum

The Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum is a public museum located in the Caballito section of Buenos Aires, Argentina.-History and overview:...

 (later housed in the nearby Santo Domingo convent

Santo Domingo convent

The Santo Domingo Convent, or Basilic of Our Lady of the Rosary and Convent of Santo Domingo is a convent for Our Lady of the Rosary located at the city of Buenos Aires. Built during the colonial times, it was the scenario of a military conflict during the British invasions of the Río de la Plata....

). A secondary school established in 1817 in the Illuminated Block by Juan Martín de Pueyrredón

Juan Martín de Pueyrredón

Juan Martín de Pueyrredón y O'Dogan was an Argentine general and politician of the early 19th century. He was appointed Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata after the Argentine Declaration of Independence.-Early life:Pueyrredón was born in Buenos Aires, the fifth of...

 eventually became the Buenos Aires National College

Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires

Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires is a public high school in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the tradition of the European gymnasium it provides a free education that includes classical languages such as Latin and Greek. The school is one of the most prestigious in Argentina...

, one of the nation's most prestigious university-preparatory school

University-preparatory school

A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...

s, in 1863.

The Provincial Legislature was used as the Argentine National Congress

Argentine National Congress

The Congress of the Argentine Nation is the legislative branch of the government of Argentina. Its composition is bicameral, constituted by a 72-seat Senate and a 257-seat Chamber of Deputies....

 during the short-lived First Republic

Bernardino Rivadavia

Bernardino de la Trinidad Gónzalez Rivadavia y Rivadavia was the first president of Argentina, from February 8, 1826 to July 7, 1827 . He was a politician of the United Provinces of Río de la Plata, Argentina today...

 (1826–27), and was again used as such from 1862 to 1864, while newer facilities were built nearby. The Buenos Aires City Legislature

Buenos Aires City Legislature

The Buenos Aires City Legislature is a central part of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, as well as an architectural landmark in the city's Montserrat section.-History:...

 also met at the site from 1894 to 1931, when its current building was completed. The old Provincial Legislature's final use was as the University of Buenos Aires School of Architecture (until 1972).

The Illuminated Block was declared a National Historic Monument, in 1942, and was (with three of the catacombs) extensively restored, in 1983.