This is the most exclusive and elegant district, place of the historical high class society. This essentially residential area concentrates a baroque style church, many cultural centers and museums, and a sophisticated gastronomical proposal.
This is one of the most attractive districts for tourists and its name comes from the “recoletos” monks that settled a monastery at the beginning of 18th century. This select area stands out due to its strong elegant style and its predominant French architecture as well. A great amount of these traditional residences were settled at the beginning of the 20th century, originally belonging to Argentinean aristocratic families; they are now embassies or museums.
Recoleta offers a great variety of turistic circuits and historical-cultural places to visit. In the fancy Quintana and Alvear avenues, you can find the most exclusive design shops and luxury hotels; while around Alvear square cultural exhibitions and restaurants can be found as well. On the weekends, at this cultural and entertainment core you can enjoy its handcraft fair and street shows.
Also on this square, the “Centro Cultural Recoleta” is located, a free government expositions centre. There you can visit artistic exhibitions varying from painting, sculptures, photography and more. Other museums you can also visit are the “Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes” (National Museum of Fine Arts) and the “Palais de Glace”.
Other representative places of this district are the colonial style church “Nuestra Señora del Pilar” and the historical cemetery “Cementerio de la Recoleta”. Originally, their piece of land was also part of the Franciscan monastery. The church with its baroque altars was built in 1732 and the National Pantheon that can be found at the cemetery was founded in 1822 becoming the oldest one in Buenos Aires. Both buildings, due to their history and architecture were declared National Historical Monuments.
