Recoleta, Buenos Aires

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This is the view from the bridge that cross Figueroa Alcorta avenue. It's infront of the law's University.
I think it's a cute bridge, and the view at night is pretty nice.

Esta es la vista desde el puente que atraviesa la avenida Figueroa Alcorta. Esta enfrente de la Universidad de Derecho. Creo que es un puente muy bonito y la vista de noche es muy linda.

We spent about 1/2 day at the Recoleta Cemetary - the buriel place of Evita. You wouldn't think a cemetary could be so interesting, but this certainly was! The mausoleums were amazing, and so ornate. I only wish there would have been more stories posted of the ones buried inside. It was like walking through a beautiful tree-lined city. The streets were all paved as you pass by the mausoleums - each one more interesting than the next. They have benches under the enormous trees where you can take shelter from the sweltering sun.

There are more than 6400 mausoleums in this cemetry. The most popular is the tomb of Eva "Evita" Perón. To prevent her body from being stolen, she has been buried in a concrete vault 8 meters underground. Many other rich or famous Argentines are also buried here.
Remember that this cemetry is closed at night, actually it closes at 6 pm. So come in time not to see just the entrance as I did ;-(

Recoleta Cultural Center hosts Argentine and international art exhibits, theater works, music concerts and an interactive science museum for children. There is Buenos Aires Design Center that features shops specializing in home decor right next to it.

The museum exhibits most of significant local masters and there are also some international drawings, paintings and sculptures including August Rodin's "The Kiss".
The pieces range from medieval times to the postmodern era.
The truth is I wasn't very impressed with this collection.

The entrance is free.

This is the tomb of Eva Duarte de Perón, popularly known as Evita. It's located in Cementerio de la Recoleta, but I listed it separately since it's probably the most famous, most visitied tomb. Evita is buried several meters underground to prevent her body from being stolen- this might sound odd, but just do a Google search on her body. After her death, a Spanish embalmer spent months working on her body (embalming wasn't common in Argentina, at least not at the time). Afterwards, it made several journies around the world (it was stolen by the army, taken to Rome, taken to Madrid where Juan Perón was in exile) before it finally came to rest here. Some aristocrats allege that her body isn't actually here, since she's not of the "background" (read: from a ridiculously rich family) of the other people buried here.

After finishing our tour of the San Telmo area, and stopping for lunch, we said that is just about enough walking for one day! So, we then took a taxi across the city to the Recoleta district.

It was time to visit the world-famous cemetery ourselves to see what all the fuss was about! The Recoleta area was originally a wooded section of land outside of the city itself. This led to the Dominican and Franciscan orders developing religious 'retreats' here in the early 1700s, where the monks could meditate - thus the name 'recoleta' which means 'a place of retreat'.

The city gradually expanded over the next century, slowly bringing Recoleta into it's grasp. However, the big changes came following the outbreak of Yellow Fever in the heart of Buenos Aires in 1871, resulting in the rich city dwellers choosing to move to new, healthier ground. They brought their money with them to Recoleta and developed this part of the city into an exclusive and trendy place to live.

Naturally, they had to have a cemetery able to meet their high standards, so Recoleta cemetery, with it's classic Greek-style neo-Doric entrance gate, fit the bill perfectly!

After emerging from the Recoleta Cemetery, we strolled though the shade trees of the surrounding small Plaza Alvear toward the nearby shopping area. Although we had seen an impressive Banyan tree in the Plaza de Congreso on our first day in the city, the size of the Banyan tree here just blew me away!

Banyan trees are native to India and adjacent countries and are actually a type of strangler Fig. Very often, they germinate from a seed dropped by a bird into the foliage of another type of tree. The seed sprouts there and sends it's roots down to ground level. As it grows over time it's numerous roots completely encase it's original host, killing the tree. By then, the well-established Banyan continues to send it's branches out horizontally, with further support roots dropping down to ground level every so often.

Banyan trees, with the world's largest leafy crown, can grow to be 100-ft high and cover an area of 1-2 acres (0.8 hectares). Because of their often hollow main trunk, where the original host used to reside, determining their age can be difficult. They are estimated to have a 1000-year life span but reports put this tree in Buenos Aires at between 200-350 years old.

I noticed that some of the large branches had man-made supports to keep them airborne, probably due to some of the 'down roots' being lost due to human interference.