Between the mid nineteenth century and 1930 some six million immigrants arrived in Argentina, and almost all of them came in through the port of Buenos Aires. By 1914 one in three people in the country had been born abroad, and in the capital nearly one in two. Thirteen stops between the dock where the ships tied up, the hotel that gave five days of free bed and board, the museum that keeps the newcomers' names, the station of the trains to the pampas, the tower the British gave, the docks of a port that was born obsolete, the bridge among streets named after women, the fountain that scandalised the city, the Genoese bank of the Riachuelo, the painted tin tenements, the stadium of the xeneizes, the Garibaldi of Palermo and the monument of the Spaniards. Approximate audio duration: 24 minutes.
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Buenos Aires: el país que se hizo con los que bajaron del barco
Entre mediados del siglo diecinueve y 1930 llegaron a la Argentina unos seis millones de inmigrantes, y casi todos entraron por el puerto de Buenos Aires. En 1914, uno de cada tres habitantes del país había nacido en el extranjero, y en la capital casi uno de cada dos. Trece paradas entre el muelle donde atracaban los barcos, el hotel que daba cinco días de techo y comida gratis, el museo que guarda los nombres de los recién llegados, la estación de los trenes a la pampa, la torre que regalaron los ingleses, los diques de un puerto que nació viejo, el puente de las calles con nombre de mujer, la fuente que escandalizó a la ciudad, la orilla genovesa del Riachuelo, los conventillos de chapa pintada, el estadio de los xeneizes, el Garibaldi de Palermo y el monumento de los españoles. Duración aproximada de audio: 24 minutos.
Tour stops
13 stops · ~24 min of audio · 18.65 km on foot (~4 h 40 min walking) · about 5 h 15 min in total
You are facing the Dársena Norte, the still water where the boats that cross to Uruguay still tie up. In the early twentieth century, steamers from Genoa, Naples, Vigo and Barcelona arrived at this very basin after nearly a month at sea.
Think about what they saw from the deck. A flat coast with no mountains, a low city, and a brown river so wide you could not see the far shore. Many had sold everything they owned to pay for a third-class ticket.
Between the mid nineteenth century and 1930 some six million immigrants reached Argentina. Almost half were Italian and around a third Spanish. But…
2
Five Days of Bed and Board
You are standing in front of the old Immigrants' Hotel. Look at the building: four storeys, white, unadorned, with rows of windows like a barracks or a hospital. It opened in January 1911 and was one of the most modern reinforced concrete buildings in the city.
Nothing was paid here. An 1876 law, the Avellaneda Law, required the state to house and feed immigrants free of charge for their first five days in the country. Anyone who was ill or had not found work could stay longer.
Before this building, newcomers slept in makeshift places. The best remembered was a circular wooden shed near Reti…
3
The Names That Came Ashore
Now you are inside, on the floors that were dormitories. Picture these halls full of beds, men on one side and women with children on the other. People slept in large shared wards that smelled of disinfectant.
The routine was strict. Meals were served in shifts in the great dining hall on the ground floor, at long tables. There were set hours for getting up, for washing clothes and for going out to look for work in the city.
Look at what is on display: cardboard suitcases, trunks, documents, photos of whole families posing before they left. Many brought everything they owned in a single bund…
4
The Train to the Pampas
You are in front of Retiro station on the Mitre line. Notice the scale of the building and the great iron vault over the platforms. It was built by a British railway company and opened in 1915.
Many immigrants did not stay in Buenos Aires. From the hotel, the state gave them a free train ticket to their destination in the interior. The tracks ran from here to Santa Fe, Córdoba and the rest of the pampas.
That journey had a history. In 1856 the colony of Esperanza was founded in Santa Fe with Swiss, German and French families. It was the country's first organised farming colony, and hundreds …
5
The Gift of the British
In front of you is the Torre Monumental, which everyone still calls the Tower of the English. Look at the red brick, the white stone and the clock up high. It looks as if it had been brought from a British town, and in a way it was.
The British community of Buenos Aires gave it for the centenary of the May Revolution, in 1910. The foundation stone was laid that year, but the tower was not inaugurated until 1916. It was designed by the English architect Ambrose Poynter.
The British were never a mass immigration like the Italians or Spaniards. But they controlled much of the railways, banks, m…
6
The Port That Was Born Obsolete
You are beside the docks of Puerto Madero. Look at the row of red-brick warehouses across the water: today they are restaurants and offices, but they were stores for grain, wool and hides bound for export.
Until the late nineteenth century Buenos Aires had almost no port. The river was so shallow near the shore that large ships anchored far out. Passengers and cargo came ashore in boats and then in carts with huge wheels that drove into the water.
Many of the first immigrants set foot in Argentina that way, soaked, carried by a carter. So the city urgently needed a real port.
The project wa…
7
The Streets Named After Women
You are facing the Puente de la Mujer, the Women's Bridge. Look at the leaning white mast and the cables holding up the deck. It was designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and opened in 2001; the central span swings round to let boats through.
The name is no accident. In Puerto Madero the streets are named after women from Argentine history. Look at the sign on the avenue that runs beside the docks: Alicia Moreau de Justo.
Alicia Moreau also came off a boat. She was born in London in 1885, the daughter of a Frenchman, and arrived in Buenos Aires as a girl, around 1890. She qual…
8
Sunday on the Riverfront
You are in front of the Fountain of the Nereids, on the Costanera Sur. Look at the white marble: Venus rising from a shell, nereids and sea horses emerging from the water. It was carved in Rome by Lola Mora, an artist from Tucumán, and unveiled in 1903.
The fountain scandalised the city. It had been intended for the Plaza de Mayo, but the nudes seemed too much for the political heart of the country. It was first placed elsewhere and in 1918 moved here, away from prying eyes.
That same year the Municipal Bathing Resort opened on this waterfront. For decades the river came right up to the wall…
9
The Bank of the Genoese
You are at the Vuelta de Rocha, the bend in the Riachuelo where La Boca begins. Look at the dark water and, in the distance, the great iron frame of the transporter bridge, finished in 1914, which carried people and carts across in a suspended gondola.
This was Buenos Aires' first natural harbour. The smaller ships moored here, hulls were repaired and goods loaded. And from the mid nineteenth century this is where sailors and caulkers from Liguria, the region of Genoa, settled.
There were so many that the whole district took on their accent. In Genoese dialect, Genoese is zeneize. That is wh…
10
Tin Tenements and Lunfardo
You are on Caminito. Look at the houses: wood, corrugated iron, iron balconies and walls painted in bold colours. The story goes that residents painted them with paint left over from the shipyards, which is why each wall was a different colour.
Many of these buildings were conventillos, tenements. A conventillo was a house with a long courtyard and rooms down each side. A whole family lived in each room; the kitchen, toilet and washing sink were shared with dozens of neighbours.
Italians, Spaniards, Arabs, Jews and native Argentines lived side by side in the conventillos. People cooked, argu…
11
The Sons of the Xeneizes
You are in front of La Bombonera, the Boca Juniors stadium. Look at the blue and yellow walls and the stand that rises almost vertically on one side. It opened in 1940 and its official name is Alberto J. Armando.
The club was founded on 3 April 1905. It was created by five local lads, nearly all sons of Italian immigrants. They had been born here: the first Argentine generation of families who had come off the boat.
According to club tradition, the colours came from the port. Unable to agree, they decided to adopt the flag of the first ship to enter the Riachuelo. A Swedish one came in, henc…
12
The Garibaldi of Palermo
You are in Plaza Italia, one of the busiest junctions in Buenos Aires. Look at the equestrian statue in the centre: it is Giuseppe Garibaldi, hero of Italian unification. The monument was unveiled in 1904, paid for by the Italian community.
Garibaldi knew these waters. In the 1840s he lived on the River Plate and fought for Montevideo in the Uruguayan civil war, commanding a legion of Italian volunteers. To the immigrants, he was one of their own.
By 1900 the Italians in Buenos Aires had their own hospitals, newspapers, banks, mutual societies and schools. The mutual aid societies supported …
13
The Monument of the Spaniards
You are in front of the Monument of the Spaniards, at the junction of Libertador and Sarmiento. Look at the white marble column rising to a female figure, and the four bronze statues around its base. Its official name is the Monument to the Magna Carta and the Four Argentine Regions.
It was the Spanish community's gift for the centenary of 1910. But the work dragged on: the sculptor Agustín Querol died in 1909 and his successor, Cipriano Folgueras, also died before finishing it. The monument was not unveiled until 1927.
The Spanish were the second great group of immigrants. Galicians, Asturi…
How long does the "Buenos Aires: the Country Built by Those Who Stepped Off the Boat" audio tour take?
It has about 24 minutes of audio across 13 stops and a 18.65 km walking route (~4 h 40 min on foot). Plan roughly 5 h 15 min in total, or split it up: you can pause and resume anytime.
Where does the tour start?
At stop 1, "The Dock Where the Ocean Ended" (coordinates -34.5938, -58.3699). The app guides you from stop to stop with a map.
Is it free?
Trevurs is a free app for iOS and Android. There is also an optional Premium version, from USD 1.99, with unlimited offline downloads, access to every tour and no ads. It also helps keep an independent app alive.
Why use an audio tour instead of a guided group tour?
No group to keep up with and no guide to wait for. Start at any time of day, on your own schedule. Go at your own pace: pause, rewind or skip any stop. No need to commit 2 or 3 hours to a single tour: do one stop or the whole route. Works offline once downloaded.
What languages is this audio guide available in?
This tour is available in Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian. Switch languages anytime from inside the app.
Do I need wifi to listen to this tour?
No. Download the tour over wifi before you go, then listen without any data connection.
How do I access this tour?
Download Trevurs on iPhone (App Store) or Android (Google Play), then open Buenos Aires and pick "Buenos Aires: the Country Built by Those Who Stepped Off the Boat". No account required to start.
