The Obelisco (Obelisk) is the icon of the city of Buenos Aires and a National Historic Monument that celebrates four occasions:
1. Four centuries of the city’s foundation by Pedro Mendoza, in 1536.
2. The exact place where the Argentine flag was flown for the first time, at the tower of the San Nicolás de Bari church, in August 23, 1812.
3. The second foundation of the city by Juan de Garay, in 1580.
4. The declaration of Buenos Aires as Federal Capital of the Nation.
These occasions are written on each one of its four faces, as you can see on the photograph below the inscriptions on the faces East and North, respectively:
“Buenos Aires
A LA REPÚBLICA
(TO THE REPUBLIC)
En el IV Centenario de la fundación
(In the IV Centennary of the foundation)
de la ciudad por
(of the city by)
DON PEDRO DE MENDOZA.
II de Febrero de MDXXXVI.”
(February, 2, 1536)
“EN ESTE SITIO
(IN THIS SITE)
en la torre de San Nicolás
(in the San Nicolás tower)
fue izada por primera vez
(it was flown for the first time)
en la ciudad
(in the city)
LA BANDERA NACIONAL
(THE NATIONAL FLAG)
el XXIII de agosto de
(in August, 23)
MDCCCXII.”
(1812)
It was inspired by the Obelisk of the city of Washington, USA, when its designer, the Argentinean architect Alberto Prebisch was visiting this country. This reference was on perfect understanding with the neoclassic objective that would search to recover the basic geometric shapes and remind the ancient civilizations.
In 1936, at the intersection of the 9 de Julio and Corrientes avenues begun its construction, and it was finalized in 31 days.The official inauguration was on May 23, 1936.
The Obelisco is 67,5m height and each side on its base is 7 m. Its only entrance is on the West side, and inside it there is a stair of 206 steps with 7 rest areas every 8 meters until the top, where there are 4 windows and one lightning conductor.
The Obelisco is a venue for various cultural activities sponsored by the city government, manifestations or commemorations in general. Thanks to its suggestive shape and the white color, as a sheet of paper waiting to be used, sometimes the Obelisco inspires and is “dressed” on determined dates, such it was on December 1st, 2005, when it was covered with a giant “condom” of 67 meters long, in commemoration of the international AIDS awareness day.
Where?
At the intersection of the 9 de Julio and Corrientes avenues
sepphora | 12:31 pm | National Historic Monument, San Nicolás
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