San Telmo is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the city of Buenos Aires. Until last century it was the most noble area of Buenos Aires, as in its early days, the Port of Buenos Aires stood there.

It is also one of the most representative neighbourhoods in the city, as walking just a few blocks will allow us to see constructions of the XVIII, XIX, XX centuries. Many of the houses and buildings have their own stories and are sorounded by legends, they are also the center of many city traditions and cultural events.

In the 60´s, various artists, fascinated by the history and arquitecture style of San Telmo, opened their ateliers in the area. Its Bohemian style, in the bars, in music on the streets, jazz and tango sessions, makes it very attractive for all foreigners, from all ages.

When people in Buenos Aires say “I am going to downtown”, the exact location of this is not clear enugh, nor accurate. Maybe if we go back in history we can find out the real downtown Buenos Aires and identify it...
In colonial days, downtown extended towards the Callao Avenue....beyond that it was the countryside. This area later grew bigger and the neighbourhoods in the area expanded.

The presence of tango in Balcarce and Mexico streets, is evident (current location of Nanin Resto, Dinner & Show). But let´s go back in time. Back in the XVI century all of the city was located between the Port and the Cabildo. The Central Park and the Government House, along with the Cathedral Church could not be missing in this premodeled design. Banks, police stations, and further shops opened in time expanding the city further. Houses of adobe stood there, watching, as though they wanted to be a part.

So nowadays when we say downtown, we refer to San Telmo, which later became an extension of the center of the city. San Telmo is only at a walking distance from the Plaza de Mayo, which all tourists should visit, where millions of young people used to meet years ago, when the neighbourhood was quite different.

Cochabamba and Balcarce Streets
During the XVII and XVIII centuries, the city which had started its expansion, was firstly poblated in the southern neighbourhoods, under the name of Alto de San Pedro. This area was famous for being at a higher level off the regular floor, particularly where the Plaza Dorrego today stands. This Plaza later became a historical meeting point when in 1816 the people of Buenos Aires gathered with the Congressmen of Tucumán for the Declaration of Independence, in front of the Supreme Director, General Pueyrredón.

Another nearby house, in Defensa number 1062, Domingo French was born, built in 1762, little is left of its original construction. It was during these years that the people of the area worshipped Saint Peter González Telmo, a Saint designated to take care of the Port area.

As the city grew bigger, San Telmo became the location for the Jesuitas priesthood, who in 1734 founded a Church in the area, under the name of the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Belén.

“La Residencia” was then built a few meters away, a House of Spiritual Exercises for men. Later on the House was used as a prison, which today is a Penitentiary Museum, named Antonio Ballvé.

Later on in 1806, the Church of San Pedro González Telmo was built, and after the yellow fever epidemy in 1871, the high society people left the area towards the northern areas of the city , looking for a higher standard of living. And that is how the southern area became less exclusive. Some of the old luxurious houses were abandonned and later became occupied by poor inmigrants. The narrowest house of Buenos Aires lies still today in this area, with a front width of only 2.5 mts.

One tends to believe that San Telmo is only the Plaza Dorrego and sorrounding blocks, but the truth is, San Telmo is in fact one of the largest neighborhoods in the entire City of Buenos Aires.

The Parque Lezama was elected by Pedro de Mendoza to found the city of Buenos Aires in the year 1536, known also as “house of the Englishmen” as in 1812 Daniel Mackinlay owned it, later on it was bought by american C: Ridgely Horne, who later sold it to Don Gregorio Lezama. Lezama himself, a wealthy man, grew a huge garden in the area, with plants and exotic trees from around the world. As he died in 1894, the park became porperty of the City Hall of Buenos Aires.

Defensa Street, the oldest one in Buenos Aires, leads to the Lezama Park, as we ran into green trees and where the river used to be seen from uphill.

Voices of the past are left behind, noises of Fairs and historical events, still today we can find some authentic Antique Shops in the area, worth of walking around for window-shopping. Those same shops were once witnesses of the glory of the southern neighborhood of San Telmo