Page 73 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Argentina

PLAZA DE M A Y O AND MICROCENTRO  71

The awe-inspiring Catedral Metropolitana, with its high ceiling and graceful arches
ficent 164-ft- (50-m-) dia meter of Argentinian Independence administrative seats for the
dome on top of the building, hero General José de San viceroys sent by the court in
only visible to passing heli- Martín (see p55). Madrid. It was cho sen as the
copters, is the third largest site for the first few meet ings
in the world. of the liberal intellectuals who
4 Cabildo de would together form the first
Buenos Aires anti-Spanish junta in 1810.
3 Catedral Despite an attempt to
Metropolitana Bolivar/Ave de Mayo. remodel the building in a
City Map 3 E5. Tel (011) 4334-1782. more Italianate style at the
Ave Rivadavia, cnr San Martín.  Plaza de Mayo, Catedral. @ 24, 28, end of the 19th century,
City Map 3 E5. Tel (011) 4331-2845. 29. Open 10:30am–5pm Tue, Wed, & the plain, colonnaded front
 Plaza de Mayo, Catedral. @ 24, 29. Fri, 10:30am–8pm Thu, 10:30am–6pm remains in a city where civic
Open 7:30am–6:45pm Mon–Fri, Sat, Sun, & hols. & 8 3:30pm Wed architecture is often devoted
9am–7pm Sat & Sun. ^ church & Fri, 6:30pm Thu, 12:30pm, 2pm, to Neo-Classical and
services. 8 crypt: 11:45am Mon–Sat; & 3:30pm Sat, Sun, & hols.
art display: 1:45pm Mon–Fri; temple ∑ cabildonacional.cultura.gob.ar Francophile pretensions.
& crypt: 3pm Mon–Sat; children: 3pm The small on-site museum,
Sun. 5 8am, 9am, 12:30pm, & 6pm Built between 1725 and 1822, Museo Histórico Nacional
Mon–Fri; 11am & 6pm Sat; 11am, the Cabildo was the first del Cabildo y de la Revolución
noon, 1pm, & 6pm Sun. 7 building in Buenos Aires to de Mayo, contains the city’s
∑ catedralbuenosaires.org.ar be constructed completely first print ing presses, objects
from bricks. An elegant low- linked to the English inva sions
The eighth Roman Catholic slung colonial-style building, of 1806–7, and a silver and
church to be built on this site, it was the capi tal’s hub of gold shield presented to
this Greco-Roman building is officialdom. Spain erected Buenos Aires in 1807 from
the seat of the diocese of cabildos across its empire, the Oruro government
Santísima Trinidad in Peru. serving as town halls and in Bolivia.
Built between the 16th and
19th centuries, the Catedral
Metropolitana has 12 columns
on the façade symbolizing the
Apostles, and above these a
bas-relief showing Jacob meet-
ing his son Joseph in Egypt.
The Baroque interior provides
a cool escape from the busy
and – in summer – hot plaza
outside. The Venetian mosaic
floors, silver-plated Rococo altar,
and a life-size Christ carved
out of native carob wood are
some of its finest features.
The mausoleum to the right of
the nave contains the remains Colonial arches open into a cobbled courtyard, Cabildo de Buenos Aires

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