Español
Inglés
The Casa Rosada History Later in 1595, Governor Fernando de Zárate ordered the construction of buildings surrounded by walls 120 mts long each side, with a moat and a drawbridge, in the bloc which is currently enclosed by Rivadavia, Balcarce, Hipólito Yrigoyen and Avenida Paseo Colón streets, on the banks that at that time overlooked the river.
Finally, at the beginning of the 18th century a solid brick fort was built, the walls and bastions of which lasted until it was demolished a century and a half later.
Already in the Independence period, the House which had been the residence of Spanish governors and viceroys was the seat of the authorities of successive home governments: the Juntas, the Triumvirates, the Supreme Directors, Governors of Buenos Aires and First President of Argentina, Bernardino Rivadavia.
After having been abandoned and partially demolished, it recovered its importance as the seat of the political government as from 1862 when President Mitre established himself here with his ministers refurbishing the old official fort residence. His successor, Sarmiento, decided to embellish the National Executive Power's abode laying out the gardens and painting the façade pink, which thereafter became its permanent salient feature.
In 1873, when a decree ordered the construction of the Post and Telegraph building on the corner of Balcarce and Hipólito Yrigoyen Streets, the construction work on the current Government House began.
A few years later, President Julio A. Roca ordered the construction of the definitive Government Palace on the corner of Balcarce and Rivadavia Streets, in a style similar to the Post Office Building. Both buildings were joined in 1886 by a porch that is today the entrance to the Pink House looking onto Plaza de Mayo.
With these buildings the last enclosures of the old Fort disappeared of which, however, some walls and cannon holes remain and can be visited, next to the loggias of the Taylor Customs House in the Government House Museum.
THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF CONSTRUCTION
THE FORT
In 1536 Don Pedro de Mendoza established a settlement near the mouth of the Riachuelo de los Navíos, called Nuestra Señora del Buen Ayre. In 1580, Juan de Garay founded the city at the place which was to be the Plaza Mayor (nowadays Plaza de Mayo), naming it Santísima Trinidad while the port retained the name of the original settlement. In 1594 the "Royal Fort of Don Juan Baltasar de Austria" was built. In 1713 it was replaced by a more solid construction with turrets, sentry boxes, a moat and a drawbridge that upon being completed in 1720 was given the name of "Castillo San Miguel" (St. Michael's Castle). In 1820, President Bernardino Rivadavia modified the Fort and the drawbridge was replaced by a neoclassical porch. The site which was for defence purposes at that time and also seat of the Spanish and Home governments, is where Government House currently stands.
In the Pink House Museum one of its cannon holes can be found and part of a storage room of the Royal Treasury's warehouse.
Ilustración
THE NEW CUSTOMS HOUSE OR TAYLOR'S CUSTOMS HOUSE
Under the direction of the English architect, Edward Taylor, in 1855 the "New Customs House" was built, back to back with the rear walls of the Fort, facing the river. It is the first public building of great size built by the young mercantile State of Buenos Aires; its semicircular shape had five floors for depots and fifty one storage rooms with arched ceilings, surrounded by loggias. From the central tower at the top of which there was a clock and a beacon, stretched out a 300 metre pier providing wharfaging for ships of greater draught to cast their anchors. Via two side ramps carts, loaded with goods, accessed the manoeuvring dock. It was used for almost forty years and it was demolished down to the first floor by the Madero Port project and its foundations are buried under what is today Plaza Colón.
FIRST CONSTRUCTION
In 1873, President Sarmiento ordered the construction of the Postal headquarters on open ground that had remained after the south wing of the Buenos Aires Fort had been demolished (Balcarce and Hipólito Yrigoyen Streets). This project was carried out by the Swedish architect Carlos Kihlbrg, with a definite mixture of Italian Neo-renaissance and French details.
THE POST OFFICE PALACE
As Government House looked totally insignificant compared to this new post office building, President Julio Argentino Roca called upon the department of civil engineers to produce a project for extending and repairing the former, and the project submitted by the Swedish architect, Enrique Aberg was adopted. It proposed the demolition of the Fort and the construction of another building, identical to the post office, differentiating it by incorporating a long balcony on the first floor for the use of authorities during public festivities and parades. This was the end of the Fort of which only some walls and one of the cannon holes can be seen in the current Government House museum.
THE PINK HOUSE AND THE POST OFFICE PALACE
For aesthetic reasons and to solve the problem of lack of space it was later decided that the Post Office building be incorporated into Government House. Architect Francisco Tamburini was commended this task. He designed a great central archway to join the two buildings into one, bringing together the surroundings where the New Customs House and Old Arcade were, interpreted by the architect as enveloping a central main axis on which the entrances were located, emphasized by a higher archway.
THE ARCHWAY AT BALCARCE 50
Architect Francisco Tamburini designed the project and directed the works that gave the Pink House is final structure and decoration features.
THE PALACE
The outlay of the buildings is three storeys on Balcarce Street and four storeys plus a basement/galleries of Government House Museum, on Avenida Paseo Colón, practically covering the footage of a whole bloc. All the original rooms that are on the three main facades have direct ventilation and lighting, while the original internal rooms were designed in such a way that ventilation and light should come from the loggia that surround internal patios designed for this purpose. All, except one, were crowned by skylights, of which only two remain. The original structure consists of packwalls of varying thickness and slabs supported by brick counter ceilings with steel or wood roof lines, according to the sector. Following a long process of construction the current building was officially inaugurated in 1898, during the second presidency of General Julio Argentino Roca.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
BALCARCE 50 AND ROOFED PATIOS
The Great Arch entrance and the roofed patios which are located at Balcarce 50 are the assembly point of buildings constructed at different times for different purposes and designed by different architects. Up till the end of the 19 century there was an internal passage which lead up to the new Customs House.
GUARD OF HONOUR
The Balcarce 50 entrance, which is the main entrance facing Plaza de Mayo, is guarded by a Guard of Honour, the Granaderos or Grenadiers. Every year the President of the Nation presides the ceremony in which the guards of the Pink House are symbolically relieved. At the command of the First Triumvirate, General San Martin created the Granaderos a Caballo (Mounted Grenadiers) Regiment. In 1907 this Regiment was formally appointed the official Presidential Guard, during Dr. José Figueroa Alcorta's Presidency.
PATIO OF HONOUR
At the end of the 19th century the House that had originally been
the residence of the Governors and Viceroys of Buenos Aires
was still standing. Later it would become the office of the first Ilustración
Presidents. The new building would give rise to this patio which
can be accessed from Balcarce 24, and is the core around which
the rooms and offices of the north wing of the Pink House are distributed.
It is also known as "The Palm Tree Patio" and follows the eclectic style of the rest of the building. In the centre there is an artistic French iron fountain surrounded by flowerbeds contained by a low Carrara marble wall.
HALL OF HONOUR
The main entrance to the Palace is on Avenida Rivadavia. This is
the entrance the President of the Nation uses, as well as high Ilustración
ranking officials of the national government, ambassadors and official guests.
At the side of the entrance door to the Great Vestibule, called the "Hall of Honour", two Art Deco bas-reliefs can be seen, both work of the artist José Fioravanti, emblems representing "Exalting the Young Nation" and "The Heroic Feeling of the Race".
The original decoration on the walls and the coffered celing of the Hall of Honour, were done towards the end of the 19th century with Italian style fillet-adorned motifs.
Around 1913 these decorative paintings were covered with a layer of light paint that was removed from the ceilings after 1980 when they were restored allowing the artistic paintings to be fully appreciated.
To the north of the Great Vestibule is the Terrace onto Rivadavia Street, to the south is the Patio of Honour, or Palm Tree Patio; to the east is the Minister of Home Affairs' office and to the west the Secretary General's offices.
GALLERY OF BUSTS
It is located at the side of the Hall of Honour and in it are the Busts of the Presidents of Argentina, sculptured by famous national and foreign artists. President Julio A. Roca commissioned Lucio Correa Morales the task of sculpturing the busts of the first three presidents (1883 - 1884) thus initiating the tradition of placing in the Pink House the presidential busts once their term has come to an end. Originally they were placed in the Presidential Rooms on the first floor, but in 1973 President General Lanusse ordered them to be moved to the Hall of Honour and Decree 4022 was passed establishing that Presidential Busts must be placed in the hall once an interval of no less than two presidential terms has transpired after the presidential term in question has finalized.
STAIRS OF HONOUR - FRANCE
This is the one used as the main access to the Reception Rooms
and Presidential Apartments, located on the main floor of the Palace,
the first floor. Ilustración
On the landing there is a major tapestry woven at the Gobelin Factory,
Paris, France, based on the drawing of the artist Alfredo Roll dated
1911. It depicts General San Martin mounting a frisky steed, dressed in military uniform and guided by two winged glories. The side frieze shows specimens of Argentine flora and fauna. At the foot there is an inscription indicating that it is an official gift from the Republic of France to the Republic of Argentina.
The wall and ceiling of the room exhibit the original paintings, in this case the ornamental motifs are "trompe l'oeil" moulds with Renaissance motifs. The bronze light fittings are French and were installed at the end of the 19th century when electricity took the place of gas lighting at the Pink House.
STAIRS OF HONOUR - ITALY
It faces the west and on its landing is the marble and bronze plaque
the Reign of Italy handed Dr. Roque Saenz Peña, during his diplomatic Ilustración
mission in Europe, as a gift on the occasion of our first Centenary;
it symbolizes fraternity among these two countries.
The ceilings exhibit original fillet paintings. On the Victorian round table there is a small copy of one of the two horses that in the 18th century adorned the entrance to Marly Le Roi castle, property of Louis XIV and which is currently in the new wing of the Louvre Museum, Paris.
This staircase leads to the main office of the Military House, that had previously been the President's office from Miguel Juarez Celman's presidency through Victorino de la Plaza's presidency.
THE MILITARY HOUSE
The office of the Head of the Military House is accessed by the
Italian staircase and is on the left of the landing. In the
antechamber, between this office and the entrance to the Ilustración
White Room, there is a large porcelain vase made at the Sévres
Factory, completely decorated and turned by hand, a gift to our
country from the government of France during Manuel Quintana's presidency.
THE SOUTH ROOM
This room is between the two stairs of Honour and on one side leads to the
Stained Glass Window Gallery and on the other to the White Room.
This room is used for informal meetings, press conferences, dinner parties Ilustración
and less important ceremonies.
THE NORTH ROOM
Also called the Room of Agreements, it was used for Cabinet meetings until 1968. In it is the Victorian style Agreement Table, made in 1949. It is surrounded by chairs with velvet tufted seats, also Victorian style. The President of the Nation's chair has the National Coat of Arms carved at the top of its back.
THE WHITE ROOM
The most important government functions take place in this room, the most outstanding being the ceremony in which the President receives the Presidential Sash and Baton, symbols of his authority. The ceremonies in which Ministers and Secretaries of State are sworn in also take place in this room, as well as the ceremonies in which new foreign Ambassadors present their Credentials. These rooms are also used for receptions for special guests, for signing international treaties, Presidential speeches addressed to the Nation on outstanding matters and occasionally for the wake of very important people. The back stope of the Room is richly decorated with a fireplace on which stands a traditional sculpture representing a bust of the Fatherland, made of marble, by the Italian artist Ettore Ximenes. Above the Bust is the National Coat of Arms made of bronze mounted on a marble plaque capped by two angels made of shiny wood, holding trumpets of glory. This decorative ensemble was bought at the Forest Firm in Paris the year of the Centenary.
In the right corner there is a bust of General San Martin, of the Philippine artist Félix Pardo de Tavera. Since the 4th August 1993, in the left corner stands the bust of General Manuel Belgrano, by the Argentine artist Juan Carlos Ferraro.
The ceiling of the Room is decorated with a painting by the Italian artist,
Luis de Servi, painted in 1910 as a tribute to the Centenary of Ilustración
the May Revolution and to our Independence, with allegories
regarding our main patriotic festivities, the 25th May and the 9th July.
In the centre of the Room hangs the impressive gilt bronze chandelier, made in France and assembled in Buenos Aires when installed by the firm Azaretto Hnos. The doors of this Room were, originally made of ground glass with an engraving of the National Coat of Arms. These have been replaced by crystal mirrors.
The wall cornice was first leaf gilded on the occasion of the visit of the president of Brazil, Manuel F. de Campos Salles, in 1900.
The original floor of the Room was English sandstone up till 1903 when it was replaced by the current parquet wood floor made of Slovene oak.
THE CHAPEL OF CHRIST THE KING
It was built in 1978, in the antechamber between the President's Office and the White Room.
It is presided by a wood sculpture representing Christ the King, by the Argentine sculptor Vigil Mahlknecht.
In 1984 an image of Our Lady of Lujan was placed here and under it is a stone brought from the Malvinas Islands during the war against England.
When in 1982, Pope John Paul II visited our Government House, he left as testimony of his visit the skullcap which is at the foot of the altar.
Usually, once a week, the chaplain of Government House holds a service here.
THE PRESIDENT'S OFFICE
This room was previously the President's dining room and it began to be used as an office after 1946. When the President is in Government House, two Grenadiers guard the entrance.
THE PRESIDENT'S LIFT
In the antechamber leading to those rooms is the President's lift. According to Government House tradition, it was a gift that the Infanta Isabel de Borbón made to the Government House when she visited our country in 1910.
It is made of carved oak with marquetry exhibiting our National Coat of Arms on each of the crystal mirrors.