Plaza de Mayo

The Plaza de Mayo is the political heart of Argentina, in fact the city was built around the Plaza, it is located between the Cabildo, the Casa Rosada and the Cathedral. The Plaza is center of the most important events in Argentina, is the central meeting for social demonstrations and national celebrations.

Mass demonstratiosn are common, the "Madres de los Desaparecidos" or "Madres de Plaza de Mayo", have protestated here since 1976, demanding the return of their children "disappeared" during te period of the Dirty War, actually you can watch them marching and speaking, every Thursday at 3.30pm, in very peaceful demonstrations.

Government House or Casa Rosada (Pink House)

The Government House (Casa de Gobierno in Spanish), known as the Casa Rosada, is located on the eastern end of Plaza de Mayo, originally was a fortress, after was a customs house, a post office, and finally in 1873 was remodelled and became the official seat of the President of Argentina, is a French and Italian styles building, with palm trees and fountains in the yards.

In the presidency of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, the building was painted pink, there are several stories about the color pink in its facade, some says that the pink is the mix of blood with lime, others says that pink was chosen by Sarmiento as result of the combination between the color of the two most important political parties of these times (1868-1876), the Federalists (with the red color) and the Unitarists (with the white color)

The building is protected by the Granaderos a Caballo, an elite army group, whose use the same uniform since the San Mart�n times, you can see the changing of the guard every hour, in the south side of the building, there is the Casa Rosada's museum here you can find possessions of the different Argentine presidents and explanations about the political history of Argentina.

Its balcony is world-famous, it has served as podium for figures like Pope John Paul II, Diego Maradona, Juan Per�n and his wife Evita Per�n, who rallied the "descamisados" (without shirt or shirtless, term used for the followers of Per�n) from there, even Madonna was there.

Museo de Arte Latinoamericano (Malba)

The Museo de Arte Latinoamericano (Latin American Art Museum) of Buenos Aires, known as MALBA, is located close to Plaza Francia at 3415 Figueroa Alcorta Avenue in Recoleta neighbourhood, opened since 2001, is a not-for-profit institution created by Argentine businessman Eduardo F. Constantini, with the mission to preserve, collect and promote contemporary Latin American artists, promoting the knowledge of the regional cultural diversity and promoting artistic exchange between national and international community.

The young architects Gast�n Atelman, Mart�n Fourcade, and Alfredo Tapia were the persons in charge of the design of the building.

The museum features the Constantini Collection and many expositions on modern Latin American art, you can find works by Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Roberto Matta, Antonio Berni, Wifredo Lam, Gego, Tarsila do Amaral, Xul Solar, C�ndido Portinari, Emilio Pettoruti, Emiliano Di Cavalcanti, H�lio Oiticica, Joaqu�n Torres-Garc�a, Lygia Clark, Le�n Ferrari, and others.

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