The Museo Histórico Sarmiento , located in the 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...

 neighborhood of Belgrano

Belgrano, Buenos Aires

Belgrano is a leafy, northern barrio or neighborhood of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Location :The barrio of Palermo is to the southeast; Nuñez is to the northwest; Coghlan, Villa Urquiza, Villa Ortúzar and Colegiales are to the southwest....

, is amuseum dedicated to Argentinae history, and in particular to the Generation of '80

Generation of '80

The Generation of '80 was the governing elite in Argentina from 1880 to 1916. Members of the oligarchy of the provinces and the country's capital, they first joined the League of Governors , and then the National Autonomist Party...

 and the life of President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento was an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the seventh President of Argentina. His writing spanned a wide range of genres and topics, from journalism to autobiography, to political philosophy and history...

, a writer and political figure who was President of Argentina between 1868 and 1874. There are also sections that show the literary works of Nicolás Avellaneda

Nicolás Avellaneda

Nicolás Remigio Aurelio Avellaneda Silva was an Argentine politician and journalist, and president of Argentina from 1874 to 1880. Avellaneda's main projects while in office were banking and education reform, leading to Argentina's economic growth...

, his presidential successor and about the revolution caused by the federalization of Buenos Aires in 1880, when the national government had to abandon its location in downtown Buenos Aires and move to the building where the museum is today in Belgrano, then the outskirts of the city.

The building

The building is an Italian-style townhouse

Townhouse

A townhouse is the term historically used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in many other countries to describe a residence of a peer or member of the aristocracy in the capital or major city. Most such figures owned one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year...

, built in 1873 as planned by Juan Antonio Buschiazzo

Juan Antonio Buschiazzo

Juan Antonio Buschiazzo was an Italian architect and engineer who contributed to the modernisation of Buenos Aires, Argentina in the 1880s and to the construction of the city of La Plata, the new capital of the Buenos Aires Province.Born in 1845 in Pontinvrea, Province of Savona, Liguria,...

, one of the architects brought in the mid 19th-Century to Argentina by Bernardino Rivadavia

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...

. At the time, it housed the executive, legislative and judicial powers of the federal government, when they had to leave Buenos Aires. The National Congress, met in the biggest of it meeting when they declared Buenos Aires as the nationa's capital, under president Avellaneda. At the end of the civil war, the Federalization Law was signed in this building. Due to this event, it was declared a National Historic Monument.

In 1938, at the 50th anniversary of Sarmiento's death, the federal government dedicated it as a museum. On 28 July of that year, the mansion was dedicated by presidential decree of then president Roberto Marcelino Ortiz, after a proposal of then head of the Historical Museums Commission Ricardo Levene.

The collection

The museum displays some of Sarmiento's belongings, as established by Law #12556. In 1913 his grandchildren donated other objects of his to the collection. The museum's collection contains furniture, and various sets of cuttlery obtained by the president during his travels.

Sarmiento Room

Used for temporary exhibitions: Has a portrait of Sarmiento by his granddaughter Eugenia Belín and showcases with different objects of daily use.
Bedroom: This room displays a the period from 1811 to 1841 in chronological order. It contains Victorian

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 furniture from Sarmiento's home in Buenos Aires.
Dining room: Another portrait of the president by his granddaughter, Eugenia Belín, plus some personal objects.
Facundo's room: This room commemorates the work on Facundo: Civilization and Barbarism

Facundo

Facundo: Civilization and Barbarism is a book written in 1845 by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, a writer and journalist who became the seventh president of Argentina...

written by Sarmiento, showing old editions and copies from editions in other languages.