Villa Devoto is a

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

or district located in the northwestern area of the city of

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 ...

. Its administrative limits are defined by Lope de Vega, General Paz, San Martín, and Francisco Beiró Avenues; and Joaquín V. González, Baigorría, and Campana streets. Villa Devoto, a primarily middle class to upscale neighborhood, is characterized by quiet tree-lined streets and is often considered as ''The Garden of Buenos Aires''. A lower-density, wealthy residential subsection known as Devoto R is located around Arenales Square, in the ward's north-central section. Villa Devoto is served by the FC Urquiza and FC San Martín commuter railway lines.

History

Part of

General San Martín Partido General San Martín Partido is a partido in the Gran Buenos Aires urban area, immediately to the north-west of the Capital federal in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The provincial subdivision has a population of 422,830 inhabitants in an are ...

until the

Federalization of Buenos Aires The federalization of Buenos Aires was the process by which the city of Buenos Aires, until then capital of the province of Buenos Aires, was politically separated from the latter to put it under direct control of the national government as a fed ...

, the area was an

exurb An exurb (or alternately: exurban area) is an area outside the typically denser inner suburbs, suburban area, at the edge of a metropolitan area, which has some economic and commuting connection to the metro area, low housing-density, and rela ...

at the time and was known as ''Villa Gainza y Lynch''. A rail link was built by the Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway, which inaugurated Devoto Station in 1888. The district was named after Count Antonio Devoto, who became the landowner of most of the present day district in 1904. The Count Devoto was a member of the elite of Buenos Aires. King

Victor Emmanuel III of Italy Victor Emmanuel III (; 11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. A member of the House of Savoy, he also reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941 and King of the Albania ...

granted Devoto the title of

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

in 1916 in gratitude for his assistance to the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

; Devoto died a few months later. Devoto owned one of the largest mansions of Buenos Aires, known as Devoto Palace. The mansion was built by Italian architect Juan Antonio Buschiazzo, its 10,000 m² (107,000 ft²) decorated in bronze, silver and gold with ironwork forged in Italy, as well as Florentine

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

s. Prince Umberto di Savoia stayed there during a state visit in 1924. Devoto died before Buschiazzo's work was complete, and the mansion was demolished around 1940. He did not leave any descendants, and his remains lie at the Basílica of San Antonio de Padua in Villa Devoto. The Metropolitan Seminary of Buenos Aires, alma mater to many of Argentina's bishops and archbishops, was established in Villa Devoto in 1899; among its alumni was the future

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

. The Devoto Penitentiary, the city's sole remaining jail, was established in 1927. The ward became a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

in later decades, as well as home to a sizable English Argentine and American expatriate community; a Garden Club was established by the English-speaking community in 1978.

Sports

Villa Devoto is home to two

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

clubs: *

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

, formerly affiliated to dissident Federación Argentina de Football (then merged with official AFA), having played in the top division, Primera División, during the 1910s. In 2006 Kimberley rejoined AFA to compete in the

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

tournaments organised by the Association.Kimberley: crecer de la mano del futsal
by Cristian Claverie on AFA website * General Lamadrid, established in 1950 and currently playing in Primera C Metropolitana.

Landmarks

File:Devoto-sm.jpg, San Martín line - Devoto Station File:Café de García 1.jpg, Café de García, a neighborhood landmark since 1927 File:Inmaculada Concepción, Devoto.jpg, Church of the Immaculate Conception File:Escuela Delfin Gallo.JPG, Delfín Gallo School File:Biblioteca Devoto.JPG, Devoto Public Library File:Hospital Zubizarreta.JPG, Zubizarreta Hospital

Personalities

* Jorge Bergoglio, the 266th and current

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

of the Catholic Church studied in 1958 at the Metropolitan Seminary of Villa Devoto. The following have all been residents of Villa Devoto: * Olegario Víctor Andrade, poet *Josemaría Listorti, TV comedian *

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

, footballer * Mario Pergolini, TV producer * Gabriela Sabatini, tennis player *

Leopoldo Galtieri Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri Castelli (15 July 1926 12 January 2003) was an Argentine military officer who served as the ''de facto'' President of Argentina from December 1981 to June 1982. Galtieri ruled as a military dictator, military ruler d ...

, general, military dictator and de facto president of Argentina *

Javier Milei Javier Gerardo Milei (born 22 October 1970) is an Argentine politician and economist who has served as President of Argentina since 2023. Milei also served as a national deputy representing the City of Buenos Aires for the party La Libertad ...

, president of Argentina

History

Sports

Landmarks

Personalities

See also

References

External links