May Square

Colonial era

In 1573, the King of Spain, Philip II of Habsburg, issued an order that determined what the Spanish colonies in America should be like, their streets and squares. According to the royal order, the main square of the city should be rectangular, and half as long as its length. Nevertheless, when Juan de Garay created the city of Buenos Aires on June 11, 1580 , he determined the main square to be a square with a side of 117 meters, which amounted to about half of its current size. This square was located between the current streets of Rivadavia, Hipolito Irigoena, Bolivar and Defense.

The rest of the square, which was located between the modern streets of Balkarce, Hipolito Irigoene, Rivadavia and Defense, was given over to the governor Juan Torres de Vera y Aragon , who had not begun construction there. In 1608, the community manager sent a request to provide these lands to expand the main square, but at the same time, the Jesuits, with the permission of Governor Hernando Arias de Saavedra , built a chapel and several houses in the northern part of this site. In 1617, the Jesuits opened a college here and expanded the church. Since 1609, for two centuries, bullfighting has been regularly held in the main square of Buenos Aires.

In 1619, several residential buildings were built opposite the chapel, separated from it by an alley. The governor did not pay the workers and, losing the case in court, was forced to sell his land to Pedro de Rojas y Asevedo in 1643 in order to pay the debt. In 1645, the widow of Rojas donated them to the Jesuits. In 1649, the owners of the estate Vera-i-Zarate also ceded the rights to it in favor of the Jesuits, who thus became the legal owners of the entire eastern part of the modern May Square. Since the buildings that were on the square at that time were in poor condition and stood in the middle of the shelling sector of the fortress, which was built on the coast of La Plata, the governor Alonso Mercado y Villacorta bought them in 1661 and demolished them. Thus, a space appeared between the fortress and the Main Square, which was called the Bridgehead and was an ordinary wasteland.

Nevertheless, the walls of the church continued to exist and since 1680 a military outpost has been housed in them to protect against the Indians. Since 1695, an employee lived there, who monitored the prices of products that were sold on the square. Since 1717, a church carriage shed was placed in these walls, and later - governors and vice-kings. In 1822, due to the poor condition of the building, it was demolished. Thus, the main square of Buenos Aires became a wasteland without a single building, which turned into a swamp in rainy weather. In 1725, the Jesuit architect Andres Blanca laid the town hall with 11 arches on the square, the construction of which will drag on for many decades.

In 1763, the wealthy don Francisco Alvarez Campana proposed to the then governor Pedro de Sevallos at his own expense to build a gallery ( Spanish recova ), which would divide the central square of Buenos Aires into two parts and be used for trade. Work on the construction of the gallery began only in 1803 . At first, the gallery was formed by two arches with eleven arcades, separated by an alley. In 1804, the arcades were connected by a large central arch, which was called the Arch of Vice Kings. Later, the gallery already consisted of 44 arches and was built across the square from north to south from burnt brick in the style of the classicist Doric order . In the same year, Viceroy Rafael de Sobremonte issued a decree according to which residents of all houses in the central square should build arcades that would be in harmony with the Town Hall and the Gallery.

In 1806 - 1807, the square became the main battlefield between the inhabitants of Buenos Aires and the British invaders. The eastern part of the square was called the Citadel, because it was located between the fortress and the galleries, or Bazarnaya, the main trading floor of the city was located there, and the western part, which was in front of the town hall - Main, and after the English invasions of the city in 1806-1807 - began to bear the name of Victory.

Early years of independence

On May 25, 1811, as part of the celebration of the anniversary of the May Revolution, the square was renamed May 25 Square. Also on it was built the May Pyramid - the first patriotic monument of Argentina. On October 8, 1812, the square became the epicenter of the revolution that overthrew the First Triumvirate (the then government of Argentina). In 1815, 4 statues were installed on the square, which personified Europe, Asia, Africa and America.

In 1818, construction began on a new gallery on Ratushnaya Street (now Ipolito Irigoena), therefore the previous gallery became known as the old one. In 1853 the fortress was destroyed, and a new customs house was built in its place according to the project of the English architect Sam Taylor. On May 23, 1854, the Constitution of Argentina was solemnly adopted on May Square. In honor of this event, four pyramids in the Gothic style were decorated with flowers and inscriptions.

In May 1856, the May Pyramid was restored, which at that time was located in the center of Victory Square, a statue of a woman, who is now considered the symbol of Argentina, was placed on the top of the pyramid. Also, benches were installed on the square, gardens were laid out and 300 trees of melia were planted. On May 25th, gas lighting was conducted for the town hall, the cathedral, the municipality, the gallery and the fortress. In the next two years, sidewalks were paved with stone around the entire perimeter of the square and in front of the cathedral, and benches made of white marble were also installed. In 1857, according to the design of Charles Henri Peliegrini, the first building of the Colon Theater was built between the streets of Rivadavia, Reconquista and Mitre.

During the reign of Juan Manuel de Rosas, the country experienced serious economic difficulties, in connection with which some objects of state property were put up for sale. Among them was the Old Gallery. The first auction for its sale took place on October 27, 1835 . September 29, 1836 it was bought by Thomas de Anchorena, whose family owned the Gallery until 1883 . In 1883, the mayor of Torcuato de Alvear proposed to the architect Juan Antonio Buschiazzo to demolish the Gallery in order to expand the area. In 1884, the Gallery was expropriated by the city ​​government and demolished with the help of 700 workers in 9 days. A few years later, the Anchoren family sued the City Council for significant monetary compensation for this decision. Thus, on May 17, 1884, two squares (Victory and May 25) were combined into one called May Square.

Then the pavement of the street of Defense, which crossed the square, and the rails of the tram that passed through it, were demolished.

In 1885, according to the project of architect Juan Antonio Buschiazzo and engineer Jose Maraini, opposite the current Casa Rosada , on the corner of Rivadavia streets and on May 25, the Buenos Aires Exchange building was erected. In 1870, a commission was created by General Bartolome Miter, Enrique Martinez and Manuel Jose Garrick, who was involved in the establishment of the equestrian statue of Manuel Belgrano in the square. The creation of the statue of the hero was entrusted to the French sculptor Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belloz, and the horse to Manuel de Santa Coloma. The Belgrano horse was the first sculpture made by an Argentinean. The monument was unveiled by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento on September 24, 1873 . Until 1886, the statue was in the center of the Square on May 25, facing west, but then it was moved opposite the new Government House, which replaced the fortress, and installed facing north.

In 1870, two fountains in the Renaissance style were also installed on Victory Square east and west of the Pyramid. Subsequently, the fountains were moved to the crossroads of July 9 and Cordoba. In 1882, it was proposed to replace the melia on May Square with date palms . With the assistance of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, palm trees were brought from Rio de Janeiro . In 1888, after reconstruction, the Columbus Theater was occupied by the National Bank of Argentina. On April 13, 1890, after the founding of the Civil Union party, a demonstration took place on May Square, which became the first popular political demonstration in Argentina. In 1898, according to the project of architects Oberg, Kichlberg and Tamburini, in the eastern part of the square was built Cassu Rosado - the residence of the executive branch of Argentina.

XX century

In 1891 - 1902, on the basis of the project of Juan Antonio Buschiazzo, the Government Palace of the city of Buenos Aires was built, located in the western part of the square. At the end of the 19th century, the square underwent another major reconstruction under the leadership of Carlos Theis, who replaced some palm trees with plane trees , replaced lawns, tiles, trellises, paved alleys that crossed the square crosswise.

Also, electric lighting was installed on the square. In 1904, in preparation for the celebration of the centenary of the May Revolution, it was proposed to replace the May Pyramid with a more majestic monument. A competition was held, but the new monument was never selected; in 1912, the May Pyramid was moved to the center of the square. In 1913, the subway began to function under the square, and in the southern part of the square, the entrance to the Maiskaya Square station was opened. On May 9, 1942, Maiskaya Square was recognized as a historical monument by decree No. 122.096. In 1942, according to the project of architects Fitte and Morelli, the National Mortgage Bank was built on the site of the house of Antonio González Balkars and the old building of the National Congress of Argentina, where meetings were held in 1864-1905. Now in this building is the Federal State Revenue Administration. In 1940, the old buildings of the Exchange and the National Bank were demolished. In their place was built a new bank in the style of classicism, which was completed in 1955 . On October 17, 1945, a crowded demonstration took place on May Square, which secured the liberation of Juan Peron , who was subsequently elected President of Argentina.

On April 15, 1953, a terrorist act occurred on the square, 5 people were killed and 95 were injured. On June 16, 1955, May Square survived the bombing of the Naval Aviation and the Argentine Air Force in an attempted coup. More than 300 people died.

In 1977, the square underwent another reconstruction, during which flowerbeds with an area of ​​3,000 m² were destroyed, an irrigation system was installed and paths 6 meters wide were laid and sidewalks with a total area of ​​800 m². The white tile was replaced with brown. Four dancing fountains around the Pyramid were also installed. In 1977-1983, a large number of rallies took place on May Square against the military dictatorship, the Falkland War , human rights violations, including a speech by the mothers of May Square .

21st Century

On March 29, 2000, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires planted an olive tree in front of the Cathedral , marking the anniversary of the archbishopric and the “compromise between different religions in the country.” On December 19–20, 2001, May Square became the scene of events during public protests caused by the economic crisis in the country , in which several people died. On March 10, 2005, a place near the May Pyramid was proclaimed a historic monument by decree No. 1.653, where mothers of Peace Square have been gathering since 1977, who defended the rights of their children repressed during the Dirty War .

In 2017, the square was closed for reconstruction. As planned by architects, by May 25 (or July 9), 2018, she will acquire a new highlight and will regain her historical “white” look.

• Mother Square May
• Theater Colon

•   Wikimedia Commons has media related to May Square
• History of the square - History of Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo
• History of the square