Page 113 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Argentina

P ALERMO AND BEL GR ANO  111

tearoom and a Japanese
restaurant, and hosts many
exhibitions and events. Within
the park is the Campana de la
Paz, the bell that is sounded
every year to cele brate World
Peace Day on September 21.

4 Jardín Zoológico
Ave Sarmiento & Ave Las Heras.
City Map 5 E3. Tel (011) 4011-9900.
£ Palermo.  Plaza Italia. @ 15, 36,
37, 60, 152. Open 10am–6pm daily.
& free for children under 12.
7 ∑ zoobuenosaires.com.ar
Located at this site since 1888, One of the elegant greenhouses at the Jardín Botánico
this handsome city zoo started
out with a total collection of 650 zoo’s first director, Eduardo re-creation of a subtropical
animals and 53 different species. Ladislao Holmberg, played an jungle. The areas are well
Today, over 2,500 creatures, important role in the design of labeled and the zoo has a
including 49 reptiles, 89 the park, deciding to house the strong conservation agenda.
mammals, and 175 birds, inhabit animals in buildings that reflect
the 44-acre (18-ha) site. The their country of origin. This 5 Jardín Botánico
makes for an inter esting
array of archi tectural Carlos Thays
styles, including a repro- Santa Fe 3951. City Map 5 E4.
duction of an Indian Tel (011) 4831-4527. £ Palermo.
temple, a French palace,  Plaza Italia. @ 15, 36, 37, 60, 152.
and a Templo de Vesta Open 8am–6pm Mon–Fri, 9:30am–
with 16 Corinthian 6pm Sat & Sun, 11am–6pm hols.
columns, as well as a 8 10:30am Fri, 10:30am & 3pm Sat,
range of sculptures and Sun, & hols. ∑ buenosaires.gob.ar/
statues. Among the jardinbotanico
popular attractions
today are a reptilium, The city’s Botanical Gardens,
Elephants at the Jardín Zoológico an aquarium, and a opened in 1898, were designed
by famous French landscape
architect Charles Thays. He lived
Juan Manuel de Rosas (1793–1877)
in a Tudor-style house in the gar-
This infamous figure rose to prominence as a leader of the patriotic dens from 1892 to 1898 while he
gaucho armies who fought against the European expeditionary was the director of parks and
forces, following Argentinian Independence. In 1829, Rosas public walkways. His house now
became governor of Buenos Aires and instigated campaigns to contains a botanical library. The
massacre the indigenous peoples of the southern Pampas. Rosas 17-acre (7-ha) site has over 5,500
portrayed himself as a man of the people, but with his private species of plants from Argentina
paramilitary army, la mazorca, he perpetrated countless outrages in and around the world, organized
Argentina and launched invasions by family, origin, and use.
of Uruguay and Paraguay. In 1851, Of the gardens’ five
he became supreme ruler of the greenhouses, the first and most
newly created Argentinian
Confederation, which plunged into significant was brought over
civil war as powerful adversaries from France from the 1900 Paris
rose up against the rosista faithful Exhibition. Built out of iron and
(people whose sympathies lay glass in Art Nouveau style, the
with Rosas). Rosas was toppled in structure measures 3,000 sq ft
1852 and forced into exile, living (280 sq m), and houses tropical
out the rest of his days as a farmer and subtropical species. In
in Southampton, England. There is addition to its floral riches, the
not a single street or plaza in Jardín Botánico has a wealth of
Buenos Aires honoring his name, public art, including sculptures
Dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas, who but Rosas is still an icon for many and monu ments. The park
ruled with an iron fist ultra-conservatives. is also home to hundreds
of abandoned cats.

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