Caminito
Encyclopedia
Caminito is a street museum and a traditional alley, located in La Boca
, a neighborhood of Buenos Aires
, Argentina
. The place acquired cultural significance because it inspired the music for the famous tango "Caminito
" (1926), composed by Juan de Dios Filiberto
.
flowing into the Riachuelo River ran along the same route where the Caminito is now. Later that century, this area of the stream became known as the Puntin, the Genoese diminutive term for bridge (a small bridge allowed people to cross the stream there). When the stream dried up, tracks for the Ferrocarril Buenos Aires y Puerto de la Ensenada
were installed at the site. Disused tracks remain at the end of Caminito, along Garibaldi Street.
In 1954 the rail line was closed and the area where Caminito is now became a landfill and a neighbourhood's eyesore. Over the following three years, Argentine artist Benito Quinquela Martín
who lived nearby, painstakingly prepared the walls facing the abandoned street, applying pastel colors and, by 1960 having a stage put up at the southern end; the wooden-plank stage was replaced with a nearby theatre house in 1972. The artist was a personal friend of Argentine tango
composer Juan de Dios Filiberto
, who created a well-known 1926 tune by the same name.
Caminito
La Boca
La Boca is a neighborhood, or barrio of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It retains a strong European flavour, with many of its early settlers being from the Italian city of Genoa. In fact the name has a strong assonance with the Genoese neighborhood of Boccadasse , and some people believe that...
, a neighborhood of 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...
. The place acquired cultural significance because it inspired the music for the famous tango "Caminito
Caminito (song)
Caminito is a tango song written and composed by Gabino Coria Peñaloza and Juan de Dios Filiberto, respectively.Widely known and readily identifiable throughout Argentina and neighboring Uruguay, the lyrics are in themselves a classically-structured poem with strophes made up of two verses and one...
" (1926), composed by Juan de Dios Filiberto
Juan de Dios Filiberto
Juan de Dios Filiberto was an Argentine violinist, conductor, poet and composer who became prominent in the Argentine tango genre.-Life and work:...
.
History
During the 1800s, a small streamStream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
flowing into the Riachuelo River ran along the same route where the Caminito is now. Later that century, this area of the stream became known as the Puntin, the Genoese diminutive term for bridge (a small bridge allowed people to cross the stream there). When the stream dried up, tracks for the Ferrocarril Buenos Aires y Puerto de la Ensenada
Buenos Aires and Ensenada Port Railway
The Buenos Aires & Ensenada Port Railway was a British-owned company that built and operated a broad gauge railway network in Argentina towards the end of the nineteenth century...
were installed at the site. Disused tracks remain at the end of Caminito, along Garibaldi Street.
In 1954 the rail line was closed and the area where Caminito is now became a landfill and a neighbourhood's eyesore. Over the following three years, Argentine artist Benito Quinquela Martín
Benito Quinquela Martín
Benito Quinquela Martín , 1890 – January 28, 1977) was an Argentine painter born in La Boca, Buenos Aires. Quinquela Martín is considered the port painter-par-excellence and one of the most popular Argentine painters...
who lived nearby, painstakingly prepared the walls facing the abandoned street, applying pastel colors and, by 1960 having a stage put up at the southern end; the wooden-plank stage was replaced with a nearby theatre house in 1972. The artist was a personal friend of Argentine tango
Argentine tango
Argentine tango is a musical genre of simple quadruple metre and binary musical form, and the social dance that accompanies it. Its lyrics and music are marked by nostalgia, expressed through melodic instruments including the bandoneon. Originated at the ending of the 19th century in the suburbs of...
composer Juan de Dios Filiberto
Juan de Dios Filiberto
Juan de Dios Filiberto was an Argentine violinist, conductor, poet and composer who became prominent in the Argentine tango genre.-Life and work:...
, who created a well-known 1926 tune by the same name.