Just a few blocks away from our Hostel Colonial is located one of the most significant squares of Buenos Aires City: San Martín Square. Main green space in Retiro neighborhood, this square is almost as old as the city itself. The current design belongs to Carlos León Thays, son of the landscape gardener who planned the largest and most beautiful parks of Buenos Aires. A space you should not miss.The square is divided in two sectors: first, the lawn covered hill on Del Libertador Avenue where you can see the Monumental Tower (or Tower of the English, as it’s frequently called); and then, the plain in the end of the famous pedestrian street Florida, surrounded by historic buildings as the Kavanagh (first skyscraper in Argentina), the Paz Palace (current Military Circle), among others.
Historians estimate that the first use of this space was religious: the San Sebastián Chapel, in the times of the Spanish colony. After that, the place was taken up by the house of a governor and the factory of a British sea industry. In 1801, a bullring was built there and in 1812, San Martín, the Liberator of South America, used the space to organize its troupes. The square took its name from this great hero.Nowadays, the San Martín Square houses the Monument to the General San Martín and the Independence Armies, the Monument to the soldier who fell in combat in the Malvinas War and several sculptures hidden among the leafy trees. The square is also a privileged public space for the organization of all kind of events such as: the transmission in giant screen of soccer/football matches, outdoors artistic exhibitions and cultural gatherings. There’s always something happening on San Martín Square.
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