Must-see Places
: Downtown :
- Plaza de Mayo
- Casa Rosada
- Metropolitan Cathedral
- Cabildo
- Manzana de las Luces
- Café Tortoni
- Obelisk
- Av.Corrientes
- Colon Theatre
- National Congress
: La Boca :
: Palermo :
- Bosques de Palermo
- Fisherman's Club
- Botanical Garden
- Japanese Gardens
- Planetarium
- Julio Cortázar Square
: Puerto Madero :
: Recoleta :
: San Telmo :
: Otras Zonas :
Manzana de las Luces (Illuminated Block)
The lot was gift to the Jesuits in 1661 in order to build a new, largely self-reliant mission. Work began in 1686 on the Parish of St. Ignatius, a baroque structure completed in 1722. The adjoining College of St. Ignatius, becames the only academy in colonial Buenos Aires to provide a classical education, and the property possessed the city's finest laboratories, museum and library, as well as the first pharmacy and the first printing press.
In 1821, the city's leading newspaper, El Argos, described the area as the "Illuminated Block" in reference to the educational and cultural establishments.
In 1863, the Argentine government took over the school and called it "Buenos Aires National College", one of the nation's most prestigious college preparatory schools.
The Illuminated Block was declared a National Historic Monument, in 1942, and was (with three of the catacombs) extensively restored, in 1983.
Alsina, Bolívar, Moreno y Perú streets border it, Downtown
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Subways: Line A, Perú Station; Line D, Catedral Station; Line E, Bolívar Station.
Web: www.manzanadelasluces.gov.ar