Unzué Palace
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| Unzué Palace | |
|---|---|
Palacio Unzué | |
.jpg) The Unzué Palace circa 1900 | |
  Location within Buenos Aires | |
| Alternative names | Quinta Unzué |
| General information | |
| Location | Avenida del Libertador, Austria, Agüero y Avenida Las Heras |
| Town or city | Buenos Aires, |
| Country | Argentina |
| Coordinates | 34°35′04″S 58°23′53″W / 34.58444°S 58.39806°W |
| Completed | 1883 - 1887 |
| Demolished | 1958 |
Unzué Palace (Spanish: El palacio Unzué), also known as Quinta Unzué, was the presidential residence of the Argentine Republic during the presidency of Juan Domingo Perón (1946-1955), and became a place of pilgrimage and cult after the death of Eva Perón in 1952. The building's symbolic importance was such that, after the military coup that led to Perón's downfall in 1955, the dictators who subsequently took power ordered its complete demolition, in order to erase all traces of its former occupants.
The residence occupied a large plot in Buenos Aires of almost three blocks, with tree lined gardens. It was located between Avenida del Libertador, Austria, Agüero and Avenida Las Heras. Following its destruction, the current the National Library of Argentina was constructed between 1962 and 1992.
History
Construction and early history
The history of Unzué Palace is documented from the end of the Juan Manuel de Rosas government (1835-1852), when three Englishmen purchased land for the construction of a summer home.[1] The politician Manuel de Arrotea and his wife, Josefa Vivot, lived in the property for a time. In 1855 the land passed to Mariano Saavedra, son of Cornelio Saavedra, the president of the Primera Junta. He then constructed his own residence on the site, where he held many meetings as Governor of Buenos Aires Province. At this time, the Recoleta neighbourhood was a marginal and semi-rural corner of Buenos Aires, which still only extended to the current Avenida Callao. As such, Saavedra's property was difficult to reach.
Between 1883 and 1887, the house was acquired by Mariano Unzué and his wife Mercedes Baudrix.[2] This was a time of significant growth in Buenos Aires and brought unprecedented gains for traditional agricultural producing families like the Unzués, and as such Mariano was able to build the Unzué Palace as a great rest residence for his family, alternating between his main home in Calle Florida.
In 1910, during the Centennial International Exposition, Unzué was used as the main site for the Exhibition of Health & Hygiene, which showcased a number of technical advances of the time including the flushing toilet, new sewer systems and medical instruments. The Great Depression of 1930 affected the Argentine agricultural export model significantly, and those famililes who had benefited now lost both income and power, which lead to many being forced to sell their residences. The Argentine state purchased Unzué Palace in 1937 in order to pay off debts, and expropriated the building and its parkland of some 21.154,0345 m², converting them into the presidential residence. In 1938, the president Roberto Marcelino Ortiz decided to found a Garden of Childhood (Jardín de Infancia), moving the school faculty to the site.
The Perón era
The first president to use the building regularly was Juan Domingo Perón, elected in 1946, who made it his permanent residence. In doing so he moved further away from capital's centre to the more residential neighbourhood of Recoleta, which also gave him easy and quick access to the Casa Rosada. Once her cancer prevented her from travelling to offices in the Legislature Palace where her foundation was based, Eva Perón worked from the Palace. She ultimately passed away there on the 26th July 1952. During her convalescence, many of her supporters gathered at the palace gates, leaving images, candles y letters; and after her death the building acquired a mythical status whilst Perón continued to live there.
Architecture
The Unzué Palace was characteristic of aristocratic family residences in Buenos Aires at the end of the nineteenth century. Built in the 1880s, it was an example of French academic style, which was a popular within high society at the time.
See also
External links
References
- ^ Luna, Félix. Perón y su Tiempo (Tomo 1): La Argentina era una fiesta (1946-1949), Editorial Sudamericana, 1984. ISBN 978-9500702263
- ^ Barrantes, Guillermo Buenos Aires es leyenda 2. Mitos urbanos de una ciudad misteriosa, Planeta, 2006. ISBN 9789504915126