Plaza de Mayo

The Casa Rosada, the Cabildo, a cathedral with a general under guard, and two centuries of argument.

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🏛️ Plaza de Mayo Essentials

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Best Time: Late Afternoon

Warm light on the pink facade

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Allow 2 Hours

With the cathedral and the Cabildo

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Thursdays at 3:30pm

The Mothers still walk the Piramide

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Subte: Line A or D

Plaza de Mayo and Catedral stations

🧭 Why Visit

Every free walking tour of the centre ends here and it is obvious why. In one square you get the seat of government, the colonial town hall it replaced, the cathedral, and the monument the whole country dates itself from. We came back three times in a week and it was different each time.

🏛️ A Little History

The May Revolution began here in 1810 and the square has been the country's argument ground ever since. Peron spoke from the Casa Rosada balcony to crowds that filled it, and since 1977 the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo have walked their circuit around the Piramide every Thursday afternoon, which they still do.

💡 Did You Know?

The Metropolitan Cathedral looks nothing like a church from outside: twelve neoclassical columns and a pediment, with no tower and no dome facing the square. Inside, in the north aisle, General San Martin lies in a marble mausoleum with two grenadiers in nineteenth-century uniform standing over him, and the guard changes through the day.

Where the city decides things

The Plaza

Every argument Argentina has had with itself since 1810 has been had here, usually loudly.

The Casa Rosada across Plaza de Mayo with the Piramide de Mayo and palm trees.
The Casa Rosada and the PiramideThe pink house at one end, the oldest monument in the city in the middle, and palms along both sides.
The Casa Rosada with the Belgrano equestrian statue in front of it.
The BalconyBelgrano on his horse in front, and behind him the balcony that Eva Peron made the most famous in South America.
The white obelisk of the Piramide de Mayo against clear sky in Buenos Aires.
Piramide de MayoRaised in 1811 to mark the first anniversary of the revolution, and the point the Mothers still walk around every Thursday.
The white colonial facade and tower of the Cabildo in Buenos Aires.
The CabildoThe colonial town hall at the far end, white and low, and the only building on the square that remembers the Spanish.
On the north side

The Cathedral

It looks like a bank from the outside and opens into a gilded barrel vault, with a general's tomb under guard in the north aisle.

The twelve-column neoclassical colonnade of the Metropolitan Cathedral, Buenos Aires.
Twelve ColumnsThe front is a Greek temple with twelve columns for the twelve apostles, and no tower or dome to tell you it is a church.
The long nave and gilded barrel vault of the Metropolitan Cathedral, Buenos Aires.
The NaveInside it opens completely: a long gilded barrel vault running the length of the building.
The marble mausoleum of General San Martin flanked by two uniformed grenadier guards.
San Martin's GuardThe liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru lies in the north aisle, and two grenadiers in nineteenth-century uniform stand over him all day.
A gilded side altar and retablo in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires.
A Side AltarThe side chapels are heavier than the nave, gold on gold under their own small cupolas.
One block out

Around the Plaza

The buildings that grew up around the square when the country was briefly one of the richest on earth.

The monumental French-style facade of the former Central Post Office in Buenos Aires.
The Old Post OfficeThe former Central Post Office, French and enormous, now the Kirchner Cultural Centre and one of the largest of its kind anywhere.
The bronze monument to Juana Azurduy standing against the sky in Buenos Aires.
Juana AzurduyBehind the Casa Rosada, the guerrilla commander who fought the Spanish in the north stands in bronze with her arm up.
The pink side elevation of the Casa Rosada seen from a Buenos Aires street.
The Pink WallFrom the side street the colour reads properly, which it never quite does head on across the square.

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Getting There & Around

  • Avenida de Mayo runs straight from here to the Congreso and is the best walk in the centre
  • The Casa Rosada opens for guided visits at weekends and it is worth booking

Local Know-How

  • Step into the cathedral even if you skip every other church in the city, for the tomb and the guard
  • The white headscarves painted on the paving around the Piramide are a memorial, not decoration

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I go inside the Casa Rosada?
Guided tours run at weekends and need booking ahead. The balcony is visible from the square any day, which is what most people come for.
What is the Piramide de Mayo?
The oldest national monument in the city, raised in 1811 on the first anniversary of the revolution. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo have circled it every Thursday since 1977.
Is the cathedral worth going into?
Yes. The outside gives nothing away and the inside is a long gilded barrel vault, with San Martin's mausoleum and its permanent grenadier guard in the north aisle.
How does this fit with the rest of a day?
Start at the Congreso, walk Avenida de Mayo past the Barolo and Cafe Tortoni, and finish here. It is about twenty minutes on foot and takes in most of the centre.

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