At the beginning of the 19th century, the appearance of Rosario would have surprised any visitor to the city. A public and private architecture clearly inspired by France and Italy was replacing the humble buildings that had stood there previously. Santa Fe and Argentina Boulevards (today Oroño and Pellegrini Boulevards, respectively) were at the time the most elegant in the city, with important private mansions. The Municipal Palace was built, along with the Provincial Courthouse, and the Post and the Customs Buildings, hotels like the Majestic, and the Railway Station, this latter in Renaissance style.
After 1919, when the University Reform programme changed the principles of further education in Argentina, Rosariohad its National University of the Litoral, which subsequently changed its name the national University of Rosario. This very quickly became a breeding ground for top professionals and one of the country’s leading academic centres, alongside Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Tucumán.
By the mid-thirties the port, a faithful reflection of the Rosario economy, was exporting 35% of all the cereals produced in the country, and in this period people started to call it the Chicago of Argentina, since its cereals market virtually led the world. But Rosario was more than simply the busting activity of its port. Since the first cold store was set up there in 1924 with North American capital, a result of increased cattle rearing in the region, establishments involved in the meat industry began to grow.
The major economic and social transformations that have occurred in Argentina over the last thirty years, but particularly in the nineties, have had dramatic repercussions on the economic activity of the city, which has undergone serious setbacks, from which it is now trying to emerge.
Nationalization of the port in the forties meant that with administration concentrated in Buenos Aires merchandise left or arrived only as trans-shipments. The city saw its port fall into decline, a port that hard been its pride and joy as well as wound that was difficult to heal. Later there would be others.
Rosario continued to grow, but not in a planned way. The population began to move away from the central areas towards the outskirts, and the city ended up by absorbing the numerous small municipalities that had formed around it into one great conglomerate, wile a number of industrial establishments closed down.
Despite all these problems, Rosario still has considerable influence over the life of the nation as well as a very busy cultural and commercial life. Rivalry with Córdoba as to which is the second city in the country seems to be never-ending.
It is the permanent home of all kinds of national gatherings and congresses, and for this it can boast excellent conference facilities together with and extensive range of hotels and restaurants, to this can be added its favourable geographical location and its excellent communication links witch the rest of the country, both by land and air.
A modern motorway links Rosario with Buenos Aires and with Santa Fe -169 km. Its airport at Fisherton, a little under hall and hour away from the city centre, has several daily flights to and from Buenos Aires, and connections with other important cities in Argentina. Its bus terminal is extremely busy throughout the day, with services to all corners of the country, including all provincial towns. There is a half-hour frequency all day long between Rosario and Santa Fe and Paraná -capital of Entre Ríos province-, and connected to the capital of Santa Fe by tunnel under the river.
Rosario is a must on the itinerary of important visitors to Argentina, also for national theatre groups who present the first performances of their works in Buenos Aires or Mar del Plata. For their part, local theatre groups have an extensive programme of activities, as do musical groups.
Particularly since the seventies, Rosario has seen the rise of a number of truly important popular musicians, such as Fito Páez, Juan Carlos Baglietto, and Enrique Lopis, to name but three.
Plastic arts from the studio of Antonio Berni, Juan Grela and Eduardo Barnes, together with the work of the writers Mateo Boz and Enrique García Belloso, all hail from Rosario. Its most famous sons are the great actor Alberto Olmedo, Libertad Lamarque the “novia de América” and “negro Fontanarrosa”, one of Argentina’s most talented narrators and graphic humorists.
The city can boast numerous theatres , auditoriums, and cultural centres, all of which play an active role in the cultural life of Rosario. These include the Bernardino Rivadavia Cultural Centre in Pinasco Square, La Comedia Theatre, which faithfully reflects the architectural style of the early years of this century, El Círculo (formerly the Opera House), and the Astengo Foundation (which used to be the Odeón Theatre). El Círculo is home to the Fosos del Teatro Museum, devoted to the work of Rosario artist Eduardo Barnes.
What to Visit
A tour through Rosario simply has to start down on the Avenida Costanera, or more precisely on the old quayside in the port. Opposite, up on the hill, is Urquiza Park. From the quay all that can be seen is leafy woodland, you have to climb quite a lot of steps to reach it. Here is to be found the Municipal Astronomical Observatory.
Continuing along Costanera Avenue from south to north, you come to the Monument of the flag, with its impressive 75 –m-high tower, from the top of which you get one of the best views of the city and the river. This monument is the symbol of Rosario.
You need to continue several blocks further north to reach España Park. This was created to celebrate the city’s 500th Anniversary, on land given up by the railways, and has two levels, one of which serves as a terrace with wooded zones and children’s play areas; the other contains exhibitions and conference halls and the Colegio Hispano Argentino, which boasts a fine amphitheatre looking out over the river. The whole complex has been built entirely in brick and is a fine example of contemporary architecture, well worth a visit.
Costanera Avenue continues from the park through many other green areas, past clubs devoted to fishing and water sports, until La Florida resort is reached, this has recently been refurbished, and has excellent facilities. It is an ideal spot to spend a day.
Something else that should not be missed is a tour through the pedestrian only areas in the central part of Rosario: San Martín, Córdoba and Sarmiento. Here galleries and shopping centres abound, offering a whole host of articles at prices to suit all pockets; there are also numerous bars with their tables outside on the street.
It is the Córdoba pedestrian area that La Favorita to be found, one of the largest and oldest stores in the country, which still retains almost completely intact its original marble frontage and bronze lamps and adornments.
Going eastwards from Córdoba you come to the historic centre of the city, the Plaza 25 de Mayo, barely three blocks away from the Monument of the Flag and the river. The square is bounded by a number of important buildings: the Cathedral, the Municipal Palace, the Post Office, the Concejo Deliberante, the Estévez Museum of Decorative Art and the Jockey Club. Two blocks north of the square is the beautiful Customs House, which is also well worth a visit, as is the old Chamber of Commerce building -there is now a new one too, which has a conference room, tearoom, shops open only to members and others which serve the general public, an underground car park and a terrace. All of this is an example of the best architecture on offer in Rosario today.
Oroño Boulevard, despite the fact that a number of apartment buildings have been built there, still manages to retain the architectural unity of its noble mansions.
One of the entrances to Independence Park -something else that should not be missed- is on Oroño Boulevard. Not only is this one of the finest green areas anywhere in the city, it also contains many sporting and cultural attractions. These include two museums, the Provincial Historical Museum and the Municipal Museum of Fine Arts, both of which are extremely important in their respective fields, and the Racecourse, the Municipal Stadium, the Riding Club, the Provincial Club and one of the shrines of Rosario Football -the ground of Newell’s Old Boys (the other shrine, that of Rosario Central, is to be found in the suburb of Arroyito). The park dates back to 1910, and is a copy of the great park and public gardens of Europe; indeed, many of its fine decorations and adornments were imported from the Old Continent.
The Patio de la Madera is a culture and leisure complex built on former railway land opposite the bus terminal. It houses a number of conference halls and is surrounded by a Plaza Sec -made of concrete-, where open-air performances take place during the summer months. The old platform of the former railway station has been converted into an internal street containing restaurants and bars.
The Monument of the Flag
This memorial was finally inaugurated on 2o June 1957, after a whole host of problems that delayed realization of the scheme by almost ninety years! The first monument was the work of Nicolás Grondona, an engineer from Genoa, and was built with contributions from the public that were collected in record time. It was a marble pyramid with motifs relating to the creation of the flag. It was finished in 1872, but unfortunately when the river flooded six years later, the monument was destroyed. A new project in 1909 was entrusted to Lola Mora. The great sculptor from Tucumán spent almost fifteen years working on it in her studio in Rome, using exclusively Carrara marble. When the work eventually reached Rosario, it was left lying abandoned for many years because a commission decided that it “lacked interest”. It was only many years later that the citizens of Rosario set about making amends for this injustice, and what remained of the various sculptures were erected miscellaneous squares and public places; finally, when the Patio de la Madera was opened, they were all reunited in their final resting place.
The present monument has distinct neo-classical lines, and apart from its very high lookout tower, has a pole thirty metres high on which the national emblem burns. It is the work of the Rosario architect Angel Guido, who conceived three enormous -yet solemn- blocks. Each block has a number of allegorical sculptures, and the blocks are connected together by a wide walkway.
Places of interest in the surrounding area
Thirty km north of Rosario along route nº 11 is San Lorenzo, which played a vital role in the battle for independence in the River Plate region. Not to be missed here are San Carlos Monastery -which contains a Historical Museum- and the battlefield (Campo de la Gloria). The monastery is set in very beautiful surroundings overlooking the Paraná River.
Another very interesting trip is to the nearby island in the river. There are regular tours from Rosario which last about two hours. But there are also day trips that go as far as Victoria, a pretty town on the other bank of the Paraná directly opposite Rosario, in Entre Ríos. One section of the journey is covered by land, utilizing a system of paths between the various islands in the area. This is an ideal way to see and enjoy the wild scenery of the river banks, and there are also good opportunities for fishing.
After 1919, when the University Reform programme changed the principles of further education in Argentina, Rosariohad its National University of the Litoral, which subsequently changed its name the national University of Rosario. This very quickly became a breeding ground for top professionals and one of the country’s leading academic centres, alongside Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Tucumán.
By the mid-thirties the port, a faithful reflection of the Rosario economy, was exporting 35% of all the cereals produced in the country, and in this period people started to call it the Chicago of Argentina, since its cereals market virtually led the world. But Rosario was more than simply the busting activity of its port. Since the first cold store was set up there in 1924 with North American capital, a result of increased cattle rearing in the region, establishments involved in the meat industry began to grow.
The major economic and social transformations that have occurred in Argentina over the last thirty years, but particularly in the nineties, have had dramatic repercussions on the economic activity of the city, which has undergone serious setbacks, from which it is now trying to emerge.
Nationalization of the port in the forties meant that with administration concentrated in Buenos Aires merchandise left or arrived only as trans-shipments. The city saw its port fall into decline, a port that hard been its pride and joy as well as wound that was difficult to heal. Later there would be others.
Rosario continued to grow, but not in a planned way. The population began to move away from the central areas towards the outskirts, and the city ended up by absorbing the numerous small municipalities that had formed around it into one great conglomerate, wile a number of industrial establishments closed down.
Despite all these problems, Rosario still has considerable influence over the life of the nation as well as a very busy cultural and commercial life. Rivalry with Córdoba as to which is the second city in the country seems to be never-ending.
It is the permanent home of all kinds of national gatherings and congresses, and for this it can boast excellent conference facilities together with and extensive range of hotels and restaurants, to this can be added its favourable geographical location and its excellent communication links witch the rest of the country, both by land and air.
A modern motorway links Rosario with Buenos Aires and with Santa Fe -169 km. Its airport at Fisherton, a little under hall and hour away from the city centre, has several daily flights to and from Buenos Aires, and connections with other important cities in Argentina. Its bus terminal is extremely busy throughout the day, with services to all corners of the country, including all provincial towns. There is a half-hour frequency all day long between Rosario and Santa Fe and Paraná -capital of Entre Ríos province-, and connected to the capital of Santa Fe by tunnel under the river.
Rosario is a must on the itinerary of important visitors to Argentina, also for national theatre groups who present the first performances of their works in Buenos Aires or Mar del Plata. For their part, local theatre groups have an extensive programme of activities, as do musical groups.
Particularly since the seventies, Rosario has seen the rise of a number of truly important popular musicians, such as Fito Páez, Juan Carlos Baglietto, and Enrique Lopis, to name but three.
Plastic arts from the studio of Antonio Berni, Juan Grela and Eduardo Barnes, together with the work of the writers Mateo Boz and Enrique García Belloso, all hail from Rosario. Its most famous sons are the great actor Alberto Olmedo, Libertad Lamarque the “novia de América” and “negro Fontanarrosa”, one of Argentina’s most talented narrators and graphic humorists.
The city can boast numerous theatres , auditoriums, and cultural centres, all of which play an active role in the cultural life of Rosario. These include the Bernardino Rivadavia Cultural Centre in Pinasco Square, La Comedia Theatre, which faithfully reflects the architectural style of the early years of this century, El Círculo (formerly the Opera House), and the Astengo Foundation (which used to be the Odeón Theatre). El Círculo is home to the Fosos del Teatro Museum, devoted to the work of Rosario artist Eduardo Barnes.
What to Visit
A tour through Rosario simply has to start down on the Avenida Costanera, or more precisely on the old quayside in the port. Opposite, up on the hill, is Urquiza Park. From the quay all that can be seen is leafy woodland, you have to climb quite a lot of steps to reach it. Here is to be found the Municipal Astronomical Observatory.
Continuing along Costanera Avenue from south to north, you come to the Monument of the flag, with its impressive 75 –m-high tower, from the top of which you get one of the best views of the city and the river. This monument is the symbol of Rosario.
You need to continue several blocks further north to reach España Park. This was created to celebrate the city’s 500th Anniversary, on land given up by the railways, and has two levels, one of which serves as a terrace with wooded zones and children’s play areas; the other contains exhibitions and conference halls and the Colegio Hispano Argentino, which boasts a fine amphitheatre looking out over the river. The whole complex has been built entirely in brick and is a fine example of contemporary architecture, well worth a visit.
Costanera Avenue continues from the park through many other green areas, past clubs devoted to fishing and water sports, until La Florida resort is reached, this has recently been refurbished, and has excellent facilities. It is an ideal spot to spend a day.
Something else that should not be missed is a tour through the pedestrian only areas in the central part of Rosario: San Martín, Córdoba and Sarmiento. Here galleries and shopping centres abound, offering a whole host of articles at prices to suit all pockets; there are also numerous bars with their tables outside on the street.
It is the Córdoba pedestrian area that La Favorita to be found, one of the largest and oldest stores in the country, which still retains almost completely intact its original marble frontage and bronze lamps and adornments.
Going eastwards from Córdoba you come to the historic centre of the city, the Plaza 25 de Mayo, barely three blocks away from the Monument of the Flag and the river. The square is bounded by a number of important buildings: the Cathedral, the Municipal Palace, the Post Office, the Concejo Deliberante, the Estévez Museum of Decorative Art and the Jockey Club. Two blocks north of the square is the beautiful Customs House, which is also well worth a visit, as is the old Chamber of Commerce building -there is now a new one too, which has a conference room, tearoom, shops open only to members and others which serve the general public, an underground car park and a terrace. All of this is an example of the best architecture on offer in Rosario today.
Oroño Boulevard, despite the fact that a number of apartment buildings have been built there, still manages to retain the architectural unity of its noble mansions.
One of the entrances to Independence Park -something else that should not be missed- is on Oroño Boulevard. Not only is this one of the finest green areas anywhere in the city, it also contains many sporting and cultural attractions. These include two museums, the Provincial Historical Museum and the Municipal Museum of Fine Arts, both of which are extremely important in their respective fields, and the Racecourse, the Municipal Stadium, the Riding Club, the Provincial Club and one of the shrines of Rosario Football -the ground of Newell’s Old Boys (the other shrine, that of Rosario Central, is to be found in the suburb of Arroyito). The park dates back to 1910, and is a copy of the great park and public gardens of Europe; indeed, many of its fine decorations and adornments were imported from the Old Continent.
The Patio de la Madera is a culture and leisure complex built on former railway land opposite the bus terminal. It houses a number of conference halls and is surrounded by a Plaza Sec -made of concrete-, where open-air performances take place during the summer months. The old platform of the former railway station has been converted into an internal street containing restaurants and bars.
The Monument of the Flag
This memorial was finally inaugurated on 2o June 1957, after a whole host of problems that delayed realization of the scheme by almost ninety years! The first monument was the work of Nicolás Grondona, an engineer from Genoa, and was built with contributions from the public that were collected in record time. It was a marble pyramid with motifs relating to the creation of the flag. It was finished in 1872, but unfortunately when the river flooded six years later, the monument was destroyed. A new project in 1909 was entrusted to Lola Mora. The great sculptor from Tucumán spent almost fifteen years working on it in her studio in Rome, using exclusively Carrara marble. When the work eventually reached Rosario, it was left lying abandoned for many years because a commission decided that it “lacked interest”. It was only many years later that the citizens of Rosario set about making amends for this injustice, and what remained of the various sculptures were erected miscellaneous squares and public places; finally, when the Patio de la Madera was opened, they were all reunited in their final resting place.
The present monument has distinct neo-classical lines, and apart from its very high lookout tower, has a pole thirty metres high on which the national emblem burns. It is the work of the Rosario architect Angel Guido, who conceived three enormous -yet solemn- blocks. Each block has a number of allegorical sculptures, and the blocks are connected together by a wide walkway.
Places of interest in the surrounding area
Thirty km north of Rosario along route nº 11 is San Lorenzo, which played a vital role in the battle for independence in the River Plate region. Not to be missed here are San Carlos Monastery -which contains a Historical Museum- and the battlefield (Campo de la Gloria). The monastery is set in very beautiful surroundings overlooking the Paraná River.
Another very interesting trip is to the nearby island in the river. There are regular tours from Rosario which last about two hours. But there are also day trips that go as far as Victoria, a pretty town on the other bank of the Paraná directly opposite Rosario, in Entre Ríos. One section of the journey is covered by land, utilizing a system of paths between the various islands in the area. This is an ideal way to see and enjoy the wild scenery of the river banks, and there are also good opportunities for fishing.
