Avenida Alvear is an upscale thoroughfare in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. Located in the neighbourhood of Recoleta

Recoleta

Recoleta is a downtown residential neighborhood in the city of Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina; it is an area of great historical and architectural interest, due, particularly to the Recoleta Cemetery located there...

, it extends for seven blocks, from the Plazoleta Carlos Pellegrini

Carlos Pellegrini

Carlos Enrique José Pellegrini Bevans was President of Argentina from 6 August 1890 to 12 October 1892....

 to Alvear Plaza. The avenue is famous not only for the most exclusive representatives of haute couture

Haute couture

Haute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...

, but also for its numerous demi-palaces and extensive presence of the French academy architecture so much in vogue in uptown Buenos Aires at the turn of the 20^th century. The Buenos Aires Legislature approved the bill to declare it as a Historic Protection Area. A study by the U.S. television network NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

, placed it among the world's five most distinguished avenues.

History

The avenue was begun in 1885 on the initiative of Mayor Torcuato de Alvear

Torcuato de Alvear

Torcuato de Alvear y Saenz de la Quintanilla was a 19th century Argentine conservative politician. He was the son of soldier and statesman Carlos María de Alvear and father of Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear, president of Argentina from 1922 to 1928.In 1880 Buenos Aires was declared the capital city...

, whose tenure is remembered for its ambitious urbanism projects patterned after those used by Baron Haussmann

Baron Haussmann

Georges-Eugène Haussmann, commonly known as Baron Haussmann , was a French civic planner whose name is associated with the rebuilding of Paris...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. The Ortiz Basualdo Palace (today the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 Embassy) and the Pereda Palace (the Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian Embassy) are the most famous among Avenida Alvear's many examples of Belle Époque

Belle Époque

The Belle Époque or La Belle Époque was a period in European social history that began during the late 19th century and lasted until World War I. Occurring during the era of the French Third Republic and the German Empire, it was a period characterised by optimism and new technological and medical...

 architecture. Other well-known buildings include the Tudor Revival Hume House (the Secretariat of Culture and the oldest of the avenue's mansions), the Duhau Palace (converted into the Park Hyatt Buenos Aires

Park Hyatt Buenos Aires

The Palacio Duhau - Park Hyatt Buenos Aires is a five star establishment located in the city's Recoleta section.-Overview:The Palacio Duhau - Park Hyatt was built on an Alvear Avenue lot belonging to Alejandro Hume, a railway executive of English Argentine background...

 hotel), the Fernández Anchorena Palace

Fernández Anchorena Palace

The Fernández Anchorena Palace is an architecturally significant former residence in the Recoleta section of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Today, it serves as the Apostolic Nunciature in Argentina.-Overview:...

 (today the Apostolic Nunciature

Apostolic Nunciature

An Apostolic Nunciature is a top-level diplomatic mission of the Holy See, equivalent to an embassy.The head of the Apostolic Nunciature is called nuncio. A nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin nuntius, meaning messenger...

), and the Alvear Palace Hotel

Alvear Palace Hotel

The Alvear Palace Hotel is a luxury hotel located in Avenida Alvear in Recoleta, an upscale neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The hotel was inaugurated in 1932 and, following extensive refurbishment, was reinaugurated in 1994.-Notable guests:...

, which dates from 1932.

Designer brands and jewelers located throughout the street include Emporio Armani, Valentino

Valentino SpA

Valentino SpA is a clothing company founded in 1959 by Valentino Garavani. Nowadays it is a part of Valentino Fashion Group. New creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli will take Alessandra Facchinetti's seat as creative designer...

, Hermes

Hermes

Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...

, Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton Malletier – commonly referred to as Louis Vuitton , or shortened to LV – is a French fashion house founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label is well known for its LV monogram, which is featured on most products, ranging from luxury trunks and leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes,...

, Ermenegildo Zegna

Ermenegildo Zegna

Ermenegildo Zegna is a leading Italian fashion house, specialing in men's clothing. Founded in 1910, it is now managed by the fourth generation of the Zegna family and remains in family ownership. As well as producing suits for its own labels, it manufactures suits for labels such as Gucci, Yves...

. Near the avenue it's the Patio Bullrich

Patio Bullrich

‎Patio Bullrich is an important shopping center in the Retiro section of Buenos Aires.-Overview:Designed by English Argentine architect Juan Waldorp, Patio Bullrich was originally built as an auction house in 1867 for the prominent local Bullrich family...

, whose boutiques include Carolina Herrera

Carolina Herrera (fashion designer)

Carolina Herrera Carolina Herrera Carolina Herrera (born María Carolina Josefina Pacanins y Niño (born January 8, 1939) is a Venezuelan and naturalized American fashion designer and entrepreneur who founded her eponymous company in 1980.-Early life:...

, Salvatore Ferragamo

Salvatore Ferragamo

Salvatore Ferragamo was a Florentine and Italian shoe designer. He worked with many Hollywood stars in the 1920s, before returning to Italy to found the eponymous company making unique hand-made footwear. His scientific and creative approach to shoes spawned many innovations such as the wedge heel...

, Kenzo

Kenzo

is a common masculine Japanese given name.-Possible writings:Kenzō can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:*賢三, "wise, three"*健三, "healthy, three"*謙三, "humble, three"*健想, "healthy, concept"*建造, "build, create"*健蔵, "healthy, storehouse"...

, Calvin Klein

Calvin Klein

Calvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968. In addition to clothing, Klein has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry....

, Zara, among others. There's also a Fendi

Fendi

Fendi is an Italian high fashion house best known for its "baguette" handbags. It was launched in 1925 as a fur and leather shop in Rome, but today is a multinational luxury goods brand owned by LVMH...

 store troughout Posadas street, parallel to the avenue.

The avenue is also known for its northern end, site of the Recoleta Cemetery

La Recoleta Cemetery

La Recoleta Cemetery is a famous cemetery located in the exclusive Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, Raúl Alfonsín, and several presidents of Argentina.- History :...

, a national historic site.
Belle Époque architecture of Avenida Alvear

External links

• highbuenosaires.com Avenida Alvear Guide
• www.histourist.com Avenida Alvear in Histourist.com, historical photos and texts