Avenida Rivadavia is one of the principal thoroughfares in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, extending Avenida Rivadavia at Google Maps
/ref> from downtown Buenos Aires to the western suburb of Merlo. It is considered the third longest avenue in the world after

Yonge Street Yonge Street ( ') is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Great Lakes#Geography, Upper Great Lakes. Ontario's first colonial administrator, ...

(

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

) and Western Avenue (

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

History

Upon the designation of the

Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata or Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires ( or Virreinato de Buenos Aires or ) meaning "River of the Silver", also called the "Viceroyalty of River Plate" in some scholarly writings, in southern South America, was ...

by the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

in 1776, the "Road of the Kingdom of Heaven" leading into Buenos Aires from the east was designated a '' Camino Real'', a "Royal Road" fit for a Viceroy, and afforded improvements and some security. This Royal Road of the West, by 1782, traveled to Mendoza, a city over to the west (roughly along the modern National Highway 7). Dubbed Federation Road by the paramount Governor

Juan Manuel de Rosas Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rozas y López de Osornio (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confedera ...

in 1836, it was renamed in honor of former President

Bernardino Rivadavia Bernardino de la Trinidad González Rivadavia (May 20, 1780 – September 2, 1845) was the first President of Argentina, then called the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, from February 8, 1826 to June 27, 1827. He was educated at th ...

in 1857, following the reestablishment of constitutional rule. Bolivar de noche

The Buenos Aires Metro, inaugurated in 1913, was extended to Rivadavia Avenue in 1926, whereby 11 of the 16 stations on line were built underneath the avenue. Rivadavia was on Buenos Aires' first bus line in 1928, a development that marked the beginning of the end for the city's intricate trolley system. The establishment of the National Highway Bureau in 1932 led to the 1935 designation of the avenue, west of the Federal District, as part of National Highway 7. This change encouraged the rapid development of the suburbs west of Buenos Aires, something which, by 1970, had made the avenue among the most congested in the metro area. A rerouting of Highway 7 north of the avenue began taking shape in the late 1970s and the resulting expressway between Buenos Aires and Luján was completed in 1988. Absent since 1962, a Historic Tramway Line was inaugurated along the Caballito section of Rivadavia Avenue in 1980. Mapa Avenida Rivadavia

Itinerary

Avenida Rivadavia begins at a crosswalk between the

Casa Rosada The ''Casa Rosada'' (), , is the president of the Argentine Republic's official workplace, located in Buenos Aires. The palatial mansion is known officially as ''Casa de Gobierno'' ("House of Government" or "Government House"). Normally, the pre ...

and the State Intelligence Bureau, on the northeast corner of Buenos Aires' storied

Plaza de Mayo The Plaza de Mayo (, ; ) is a city square and the main foundational site of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was formed in 1884 after the demolition of the Recova building, unifying the city's Plaza Mayor and Plaza de Armas, by that time known as ''Pl ...

. Running westward along the plaza, the avenue passes along the National Bank of Argentina, the

Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity () is a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina.City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

before entering the old financial district. Avenida Rivadavia3

Crossing the pedestrian Calle Florida and the massive

Avenida 9 de Julio Avenida 9 de Julio () is a major thoroughfare in the city centre of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its name honors Argentine Declaration of Independence, Argentina's Independence Day, July 9, 1816. The avenue runs around to the west of the Río de la ...

, Rivadavia merges with

Avenida de Mayo May Avenue () is an avenue in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina. It connects the Plaza de Mayo with Congressional Plaza, and extends in a west–east direction before merging into Rivadavia Avenue. History and overview Built on an initiati ...

at Congressional Plaza, whereby it passes between the

Argentine Congress The National Congress of Argentina () is the legislative branch of the government of Argentina. Its composition is bicameral, constituted by a 72-seat Senate and a 257-seat Chamber of Deputies. The Senate, a third of whose members are elected to ...

and the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

Café El Molino. Passing through

Plaza Miserere Plaza Miserere is one of the main plazas (squares) of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is located alongside the Estación Once, Once de Septiembre Station of the Ferrocarril Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (Sarmiento railroad) in the heart of the Balvanera ...

in the

Balvanera Balvanera is a Barrios of Buenos Aires, barrio or neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Origin of name and alternative names The official name, Balvanera, is the name of the ''parroquia'' (parish) centered around the church of ''Nuestra Seño ...

area, nearby points of interest include the eclectic Venetian Casa de los Pavos Reales, and, in Almagro, the

Café Las Violetas. Along Rivadavia Park, in the Caballito area, the avenue affords a view of the Monument to

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

, founding father to

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. Nearly west of its outset by the Casa Rosada, Rivadavia Avenue passes under the General Paz Beltway into Ciudadela, thus leaving the Federal District for the

Province of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

. The thoroughfare continues through the Buenos Aires suburbs of Morón, Castelar, Ituzaingó, San Antonio de Padua and Merlo before crossing the Reconquista River and becoming

Bartolomé Mitre Bartolomé Mitre (26 June 1821 – 19 January 1906) was an Argentine statesman, soldier and author. He was President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868 and the first president of Argentine Civil Wars#National unification, unified Argentina. Mitre i ...

Avenue. Mitre Avenue travels west another before merging with Piovano Avenue in Moreno. File:Banco de la Nación Argentina sede central.jpg, Along

, Banco Nación and the headquarters of the

Federal Intelligence Agency The Federal Intelligence Agency () mostly known for its abbreviation AFI, was the principal intelligence agency of Argentina. This organization was the successor to the Secretariat of Intelligence (mostly known for its acronym "SIDE") and has tw ...

. File:La plaza y el Congreso.jpg, Rivadavia Avenue crossing the Palace of the Argentine National Congress and Congressional Plaza. File:Edificio Rivadavia y Uriburu (NE).JPG, Rivadavia and Uriburu, Balvanera section. File:Confitería El Molino 03.jpg, Confitería del Molino, Callao avenue corner. File:Rivadavia & Diagonal N Buenos Aires.jpg, Rivadavia Avenue between

Diagonal Norte In geometry, a diagonal is a line segment joining two vertex (geometry), vertices of a polygon or polyhedron, when those vertices are not on the same edge (geometry), edge. Informally, any sloping line is called diagonal. The word ''diagonal'' ...

Avenue. File:Rivadavia e Yrigoyen.jpg, Palacio Raggio, Almagro section.

References

External links

Official Province of Buenos Aires bulletin
(Spanish) * Historic Tramway in Caballito �
''Asociación Amigos del Tranvía''
(Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivadavia Avenue Balvanera Streets in Buenos Aires