# Escuela de Lenguas UNLP/About Argentina/Tourist Attractions/Buenos Aires (province)/La Plata
### La Plata

It is the Capital city of the Province of Buenos Aires. It's really a green, mathematical and geometric city. It was designed by Pedro Benoit, an Argentinian engineer born in France, who designed the city with a ruler and a compass. Then, it was founded by Dardo Rocha on November 19th, 1882. The city has many squares, parks, universities and a lot of important buildings. Moreno Square is the main square and the center of the city. In that area, we can also find the Cathedral and the Municipality.
In the north of the town there is a wide river called La Plata River. It is popular. La Plata is well-known for the many universities and its university life. Also, there are many squares, churches and museums, a cathedral, and old and modern buildings, too. It is great to walk around the large park, where there is a Zoo, a Natural Science Museum and a stadium. The Natural Science Museum is the best in America. You can see dinosaurs' skeletons, mummies and animals.
The city has the shape of a square of thirty eight by thirty eight blocks. Every six blocks there is a park that starts or finishes a diagonal street. There are two main diagonals; numbers 73 and 74. They cross the city from east to west and from north to south, respectively. In addition, there are numerous other shorter diagonal streets.
This city was imagined by the Masons, a group of people with similar ideas who lived in the River Plate area since the “Virreynato”. They organízed the Independence from the Spanish people. The design of La Plata city has many Masonic symbols. Streets form the square and compasses, one of the main Masonic symbol.It is said, that the monuments around the Cathedral show aggressive gestures towards it, as a symbol of triumph over the church.

#### City Bell

City Bell is a small city. It was founded on the tenth of May in 1914. Because of its closeness to La Plata and Buenos Aires, and a new railway, City Bell grew tremendously. The first farmers and tenants settled near the ¨ Ëstancia Grande¨ from the Bell´s family . Now that place is occupied by the ¨Batallón 601¨. Nowadays, City Bell is a tourist attraction. It has its own hotel and a great variety of bars and shops. Many people have mixed feelings: some feel homesickness for the old town and others enjoy the progress of the place

##### Fairs, markets and outdoor visits

* Meridiano V Cultural Centre.
Go to Meridiano V in La Plata City. The provincial railway station Meridiano V was inaugurated in 1910. The building station was made in French style. Meridiano V train gave the name to the neighbourhood located around the station.In 1912 it was opened to transport passengers and to integrate different regions of the province. The train was closed in 1977. In 1998 neighbours began to change the old station into a cultural Centre. The Cultural Centre is the Provincial Station on 17 and 71 and around it. It is 104 years old. You can go to restaurant, the cinema, listen to music, designs arts and crafts, shows and have a picnic on the green grass. You can buy arts and crafts, cakes, jams, artichokes.
* Plaza Moreno (Moreno square).
You can´t miss “Plaza Moreno” in La Plata, Buenos Aires. It´s located in centre of the city. The square is as old as the city itself (Founded on November 19, 1882) and contains the cornerstone and also four statues representing the four seasons. Around the square you can visit the Cathedral (built 1902), a new gothic building and the City Hall (1888). You can take any bus to get there. Sometimes, in weekends, there are fair of arts and crafts, concerts and different celebrations. There are attractions for children too: a little train, a playground with swings and slides, and also clown shows. There are other notable buildings on the edges of the Plaza Moreno: The Normal School 1 Mary O. Graham authorized in 1932, the Museum and Archive Dardo Rocha, former home of the founder of the city and one of the oldest in La Plata, dating back to 1885.
* The Forest.
The forest in La Plata is beautiful. It is near the city center. You can walk around. Take Street fifty -one and walk as far as the 1st. Street and there is a zoo. It is interesting; there are a lot of animals. You can buy the tickets. It is free only on Monday. And then you can see the Museum of Natural Science. There is an important collection of dinosaurs. It is big and famous in the world. And then you can enjoy the lake. You can go water cycling or rowing. If you want to eat and drink there are the bars or restaurants. You can choose typical food or fast food. In the evening you can go to the Astronomic Observatory: there you can see a lot of stars and the planets.
* Bon Odori La Plata.
Traditional Japanese party in Colonia Urquiza, Melchor Romero. La Plata. It is held the second Saturday of each year. Colonia Urquiza is a Japanese community, it's located southwest of La Plata situated on the corner of 482 and 186. Bon Odori: Bon means festive season when we give the welcome to our ancestors' souls. Odori means dance. You dance around a tower (Yagura) to the beat of the drum (Taiko). You can go in traditional clothing (Yukata) and there are several Japanese food stalls. It is performed at night. It is for all public. To recommend.
* Regatas Club.
The club Regatas is a hundred eleven years old. It is located in the Ensenada City, over the river Santiago. It is a traditional institution in the region. It always stands out for its intense social life and for the sports played at its headquarters such as sailing, rowing and canoeing. The building is shaped like boat. It has a restaurant, dance hall and rooms.
* The Argentinian Theatre.
The Argentinian Theatre is one of the most important theatres in Argentina. It is in La Plata, capital of the province of Bs As. It was built by the Italian architect Leopoldo Rocchi, from 1887 until 1892. In 1977 a fire reduced to ashes the big and beautiful lyric room. On October 12, 1999 the new building opens. The main hall called ´´Alberto Ginastera´´ is big for lyric concerts and ballets. The other hall called Astor Piazzola is smaller for popular concerts and conferences. There are other rooms, dressing rooms and produccion workshops. The theatre has an orchestra, ballet and chorus. The Argentinian Theatre is a wonderful place to know.
* La Plata race course.
It is near La Plata Main Train Station and the Forest. This place opened in 1884. The Project manager was the engineer Joaquín Masqueda. The first time the race course was managed by one provincial society, then it was part of La Plata Jockey Club. In 1927 all provincial race courses were closed. Then in 1930 they were re opened and the race course continued under the La Plata Jockey Club management, until 1966. Its architecture is very nice. Most of the buildings are in modern architecture. The Official Grandstand was projected by Luis Pico Estrada architect, and built in 1934. In this building there are: halls, large rooms, bathrooms, coffee shops and ticket offices. This race course has the most important horse racing track in Argentina. The horses have several comfortable places to rest and eat before running. And they have vet for their examination before and after the races. Many people visit this place when there are races, with both the official races magazine and the binoculars in their hands. For these people it is an exciting place: the horses, the races, the other people, the competition... The La Plata race course is a beautiful place for all the family, because as well as the race track there are gardens and games for children.
* Palacio Lopez Merino: The Poet's Palace.
Located on 49th st between diagonal 74 and 12th sts., Palacio Lopez Merino is a one of the town's most iconic buildings; once home to the young poet Francisco Lopez Merino, it is nowadays a Library Complex. The building was designed by architect Francisco Villar and built between 1905 and 1910. It was commissioned by Notary Public Francisco Lopez and his wife America Merino. Built in Romantic style and ornamented with Art Nouveau influence, the building has four levels: basement, ground floor and two upper floors with a total of thirty three rooms. Its original facade has been kept. Palacio Lopez Merino was the home of the family from which it receives its name. Francisco and America had seven children: six daugthers and one son, Francisco, born on 6th July 1904. Together with Almafuerte, Francisco "Pancho" Lopez Merino is considered one of the greatest poets from La Plata with national impact. He had an intense social life and was in close contact with the avant- garde poets of his time like Jorge Luis Borges and Leopoldo Marechal. On May 20th 1928 López Merino decided to put an end to his life probably as a result of a serious depression caused by the early death of his sister Maria America from which he could never recover. Back in 1962 the building was acquired by the City and declared City's Architectural heritage in 1985; in 1997 it became home to the City's Library Complex. It boasts four libraries, with over 65,000 volumes. The Complex also offers varied activities like video shows, cultural workshops and book presentations among others. over a hundred years after its construction, Palacio Lopez Merino is one of the architectural gems of the City of La Plata which keeps the poet's memory and the love of literture alive.

##### Museums

* Almafuerte Museum
Pedro B. Palacios (Almafuerte) lived in La Plata City between 1886 and 1889 and then from 1904 until his death on February 28, 1917. He was a poet, writer, rural teacher (although he did not have an academic degree), a drawing teacher and a journalist. In that city is the house that inhabited and where he spent his last days. This house, which is situated in the Avenue 66 number 530, is today a museum that synthesizes the life and work of this artist. The building is a typical house from the end of the 19th century of Italianate facade and a single floor with rooms aligned, communicated to each other and open to a courtyard with cistern. In a second backyard were the kitchen and bathroom, independent of the house. The creation of a museum in this house - declared a Historical Monument of the City, the Province and the Nation - is a fair tribute to the artist and promotes the consolidation as a public heritage of the place where his humanistic and literary action was shaped.
The Almafuerte Museum exhibits manuscripts, photographs, drawings, books, newspapers, writings about his work, furniture and other objects that were part of the poet's life. Going through the different rooms, the visitor is discovering the multifaceted personality of Almafuerte from the many trades he had and, at the same time, makes contact with the political, social and historical context that he had to live. One of the rooms also allows you to look at his inner world, his most personal things, furniture and objects of daily use, such as glasses with a silver frame that accompanied him in his old age.
* Curutchet House.
La Plata has a very important and worldwide known place, which must be visited by every tourist that comes to this city: Curuchet House. It’s located in a residential zone opposite “The Forest”, the important public green space of the city. Last month U.N.E.S.C.O. declared the Curutchet House World Heritage. It’s also been a Historical National Monument since 1987. It’s a family home and medical office located in a residential area in the city of La Plata, on 53rd street between 1st and 2nd opposite Rivadavia Square and The Forrest. In 1948 Dr Pedro Curutchet asked Swiss architect Le Corbusier to design the house. It was finished in 1955. The lot was irregular and not very big and it was between two walls, so Le Corbusier had to adapt his architectural concepts to project the house. The house is built in two blocks; in the front block is the garage and the doctor’s office and in the back block are the family rooms. It’s a house with several floors and glazed walls and ramps to join different levels. It’s built on stilts. The first level has no walls, there’s a hall and free space for the cars. There’s also a little garden with a tree that goes up trough a hole and arrives at a terrace in the upper floor. From the hall, a ramp leads to Dr Curutchet’s medical office. On the second floor there’s a living-room and a dinning-room with a balcony overlooking the green areas round the house and protected from the sun at noon.
There’s also a kitchen and a bathroom. On the third floor are the family bedrooms with its bathrooms and the terrace. All the windows are very wide. Now, Dr Curutchet heirs rent the house to the Architects’ Association and it’s open to the public to visit it on Tuesdays to Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. It’s closed on Mondays and holidays. Tickets cost $ 30 and $15 for students or seniors.
* Dr. Emilio Azzarini's Museum of Musical Instruments.
This museum is the only one on its kind in Argentina. It was founded by Emilio Azzarini, and he donated it to the University of La Plata. This museum has instruments, documents and musical objects from all over the world. Its aim is to inform people about the history of musical instruments. Here you have the good opportunity to discover the world and to travel through the sound. You can visit it from Monday to Friday from 10a.m. to 1 p.m., and in the afternoon, from 3 to 5 p.m. This museum is in 45 street, between 6 and 7 street.
* Pierre Auger Cosmic Rays Observatory
Cosmic rays are particles that arrive from space and bombard the Earth from all directions. They travel at a speed close to that of light and have hundreds of millions of times the energy that particles produced by any accelerator in the world.
No one knows the source of ultra-energy cosmic rays. They probably come from sources outside the Vía Láctea, but where? To solve the mystery the Pierre Auger Observatory measures the cascades of particles that are produced every time a cosmic ray hits the molecules of the upper atmosphere. The goal is to determine the origin and identity of cosmic rays and take another step forward in understanding our universe. The reason Pierre Auger Observatory is located in the city of Malargüe, in the province of Mendoza, is not accidental. The pure air of the mountain range, little light pollution, a flat surface of 3000 km2 located between 1200 and 1400m above sea level, 35° south latitude and the existence of local infraestructura where determining factors for its development here. The Pierre Auger Observatory is currently working at 100% capacity. It was officially inaugurated on November 14, 2008.
* The Automobile Museum of La Plata.
The Automobile Museum of La Plata City is located on 1st Avenue and 34th Street, in a historical building built in 1875. It's a beautiful museum that contains a significant amount of old cars, motorbikes and bicycles. There are also posters, supplies to handle and mannequins with static recreations dating back to the early twentieth century. On the walls there are identifying patents, trademarks shields and auto parts, which frame the place. In the middle there is a courtyard with wells and a bar with bottles and furniture of that time. For more information, their website is www.coleccionrau.com.ar<gallery>