Avenida Roque Sáenz Peña , better known as Diagonal Norte ( Spanish for "North Diagonal", the counterpart to Diagonal Sur ), is an important avenue in the San Nicolás neighborhood of Buenos Aires , Argentina . It is oriented south-east/north-west, diagonally bisecting the city blocks ( manzanas ) which give the city centre a checkerboard plan. It is named after President Roque Sáenz Peña , who held power from 1910 to 1914 and passed the law which established universal suffrage, secret ballot and an electoral register.
17-504: The north-west corner of Plaza de Mayo is the start of Avenida Presidente Roque Sáenz Peña (i.e. the corner of Avenida Rivadavia and San Martín street), just to the north of the city hall. It runs directly to the northwest and diagonally crosses the following streets: Bartolomé Mitre, Juan Domingo Perón and Sarmiento, and calle Florida , Maipú, Esmeralda, Suipacha and the Carabelas passage, before arriving at Plaza de la República , location of
34-518: 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 Plaza de la Victoria and Plaza 25 de Mayo, respectively. The city centre of Buenos Aires, Plaza de Mayo has been the scene of the most momentous events in Argentine history , as well as
51-748: Is where the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo have congregated with signs and pictures of desaparecidos , their children, who were subject to forced disappearance by the Argentine military in the Dirty War , during the National Reorganization Process . People perceived to be supportive of subversive activities (that would include expressing left-wing ideas, or having any link with these people, however tenuous) would be illegally detained, subject to abuse and torture, and finally murdered in secret. The Mothers of
68-629: The Obelisk of Buenos Aires , where Avenida 9 de julio meets Avenida Corrientes . Still in a straight diagonal line, it crosses this intersection and continues to the next crossroads, the junction of Lavalle and Libertad in Plaza Lavalle, opposite the Courts of Justice . Below the entire length of the avenue runs line [REDACTED] of the Buenos Aires Underground , which has two stations along
85-555: The Diagonal (stations Catedral and 9 de julio ) and a third station ( Tribunales ) near its western end. Line [REDACTED] of the Buenos Aires Underground also has one station: Diagonal Norte . Avenida Roque Sáenz Peña (Diagonal Norte) 34°36′19″S 58°22′44″W / 34.60514°S 58.37899°W / -34.60514; -58.37899 Plaza de Mayo The Plaza de Mayo ( Spanish pronunciation: [ˈplasa ðe ˈmaʃo] ; English: May Square )
102-531: The Plaza de Mayo took advantage of the symbolic importance of the Plaza to open the public's eyes to what the military regime was doing. Protests have continued taking place, with the major last one being during the December 2001 riots when five protesters were killed and several others injured by police as they rioted around the Plaza de Mayo. Today, Plaza de Mayo continues to be an indispensable tourist attraction for those who visit Buenos Aires. Several of
119-554: The Plaza. Catedral (Buenos Aires Underground) Catedral is a terminal station of the Line D of the Buenos Aires Underground . From here, passengers may transfer to the Perú station on Line A and the Bolívar station on Line E . It is located at the intersection of Roque Sáenz Peña Avenue and Florida Street , which gave the original name of the station. Its current name comes from
136-884: The city's major landmarks are located around the Plaza: the Cabildo (the city council during the colonial era), the Casa Rosada (home of the executive branch of the federal government ), the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires , the May Pyramid , the Equestrian monument to General Manuel Belgrano , the current city hall or municipalidad , and the headquarters of the Nación Bank. The Buenos Aires financial district ( microcentro ), affectionately known as la City (sic) also lies besides
153-462: The colonnade separating the Plaza de la Victoria and the Plaza del Fuerte was demolished. Its origins, however, can be traced back to Juan de Garay 's foundation of Buenos Aires itself, in 1580. Newly arrived to the dusty riverbank settlement, Jesuit clergymen in 1608 secured a title to much of the 2 hectares (4.9 acres) lot, on which Garay's earlier plans for a central plaza had been abandoned. In 1661,
170-589: The colonnade's demolition and the creation of the modern Plaza de Mayo. The Plaza de Mayo has traditionally been the focal point of political life in Buenos Aires. Its current name commemorates the May Revolution of 1810, which started the process towards the country's independence from Spain in 1816. On October 17, 1945, mass demonstrations in the Plaza de Mayo organized by the CGT trade union federation forced
187-681: The largest popular demonstrations in the country. On the occasion of the first anniversary of the May Revolution in 1811, the Pirámide de Mayo (English: May Pyramid ) was inaugurated in the square's hub, becoming Buenos Aires' first national monument. It is located in the financial district known as microcentro , within the barrio (English: neighborhood ) of Monserrat . It is bounded by Bolívar, Hipólito Yrigoyen, Balcarce and Avenida Rivadavia streets; and from its west side three important avenues are born: Avenida Presidente Julio Argentino Roca , Avenida Roque Sáenz Peña and Avenida de Mayo . In
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#1733086227387204-468: The local governor purchased the eastern half for inclusion into the grounds of the city's new fort; this section soon became the Plaza de Armas . Following over a century of overuse and neglect, the local colonial government attempted to give a semblance of order to the plaza by having a colonnade built across it from north to south. Completed in 1804, the Romanesque structure became the plaza's market and
221-462: The lot to the west of the colonnade became the Plaza de la Victoria . The area continued divided between these two plazas until 1883 and with only minor changes in landscaping, chief among them the 1811 addition of the May Pyramid , a monument put up to commemorate the newly independent "Provinces of the Rio de la Plata". That year, however, Mayor Torcuato de Alvear ordered the space modernized, resulting in
238-491: The plaza was bombed during one of the populist leader's many rallies there on 16 June 1955, killing 364. Years later, in 1974, Perón, then president for the third time, expelled from the Plaza members of the Montoneros , an armed organization on the far left that had contributed to the aging leader's return from exile the previous year and had since demanded influence within the national government. Perón's final appearance at
255-578: The plaza, on 12 June, was marked by an acrimonious break with the far left, leading to two years of violence and repression and, ultimately, a coup d'état . Crowds gathered once again on April 2, 1982, and several occasions thereafter to hail de facto President Leopoldo Galtieri for Argentina's invasion of the Falkland Islands , which launched the Falklands War ( Spanish : Guerra de las Malvinas/Guerra del Atlántico Sur ). The plaza, since 1977,
272-571: The release from prison of Juan Domingo Perón , who would later become President of Argentina; during his tenure, the Peronist movement gathered every October 17 in the Plaza de Mayo to show their support for their leader (and October 17 is still " Loyalty Day " for the traditional Peronists). Many other presidents, both democratic and military, have also saluted people in the Plaza from the Casa Rosada's balcony. In an attempt to overthrow President Perón,
289-718: The square's surroundings are several significant monuments and points of interest: the Cabildo , the Casa Rosada (seat of the President of Argentina ), the Metropolitan Cathedral , the Buenos Aires City Hall , and the Bank of the Argentine Nation 's headquarters. Underneath its lands are the Underground stations of Plaza de Mayo ( Line A ), Catedral ( Line D ), and Bolívar ( Line E ). The modern plaza took form in 1884 when
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