Manzana de las Luces

The Manzana de las Luces is located in the center, so after class, me and Kyle went to take a guided tour of the block/museum.  Here is what we learned:

Translated to The Block of Enlightenment, this used to be Buenos Aires' center of learning in colonial times.  The first to occupy the block were the Jesuits.  Later it was occupied by the Universidad de Buenos Aires.  There are now several parts that make up the Manzana de las Luces.   

When Spanish settlers took over the block, the buildings were turned each into rental houses, the profit being sent back to the Spanish government.  One such house [picture 1] was later location of the national congress for a short period of time [picture 2].

Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires is one of the most prestigious schools in Buenos Aires [pictures 3,4].  There is an entrance exam for all students, which must be taken every year to be able to continue studying there. It shares a wall with the Iglesia San Ignacio, the city's oldest colonial church [pictures 5,6].  Since the earth in the Buenos Aires area does not contain rock, the Jesuits brought stones from outside the country to lay as a foundation to the church [picture 7] and use to build it.  What looks like stone in the other buildings is actually a mix of sand, gravel and cement.  

To protect the city during the colonial times, there was a system of carefully guarded labyrinth of underground passageways, leading to all the churches within a ten block radius from the Iglesia San Ignacio [pictures 8,9].  These were used to transport documents, weapons, and soldiers when the city was under attack or being invaded.  They were hidden from the public, and so carefully guarded, that their secret died with the colonial times.  Only recently have they been rediscovered, when the areas were dug up to create subways.

Museo de la Ciudad

This museum does different expositions on life in Buenos Aires... when we went, there was the history of electricity and Buenos Aires, and old toys donated by different toy shops. My favorite toy was the old Spanish "monopoly."

Casa Rosada

Security in Plaza de Mayo: