Escuela de Lenguas UNLP/About Argentina/Tourist Attractions/Buenos Aires (province)/Fairs, markets and outdoor visits

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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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>

• 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.