Avenida Sáenz and Traful. (Avenida Sáenz at the height of 900)
In 1887, Pompeya was included in the Capital city, and the Avenida Sáenz was the neighborhood border. In 1900, the Capuchinos priests consecrated a chapel to the Virgin of Rosario de Pompeya, that event gave origin to the neighborhood name. The Nueva Pompeya square is the heart of the neighborhood. The main shops, banks and public institutions are concentrated around the square. A giant poster has been placed in homage to Homero Manzi (1907-1951, author of: “Arrabal”, “Barrio de tango”, “¡Che bandoneón!”, “Desde el alma”, “El último organito”, “Fuimos”, “Malena”, “Milonga de Puente Alsina”, “Romance de barrio” and “Sur”, among others.), at the Bochín club. At the club tables, people play card games like mus, tute, truco, dominoes and chess. The additional attraction consists of a Fair of Birds that every Sunday morning exhibits all type of birds, between Sáenz and Perito Moreno avenues.
Nueva Pompeya Square.
Avenida Sáenz Peña and Traful. (Avenida Sáenz Peña at the height of 900)
Bus lines: 9, 15, 28, 32, 42, 44, 46, 75, 76, 85, 91, 112, 115, 128, 135, 160, 165, 177, 178, 179, 188.
2. Sanctuary of Virgen del Rosario
Esquiú 974
Nuestra Señora de Pompeya church is one of the most popular sanctuaries in the city. It was inaugurated in 1900. The arch-formed stained glasses, which represent the fifteen mysteries of the Holy Rosary, are one of the best expressions of the neo-gothic style in Buenos Aires. The bronze-made virgin exhibited on the backyard has been brought from Spain.
3. Museum and Athenaeum of Historic Studies on Nueva Pompeya called "Nelly Nistal"
Av. Sáenz 971
The museum takes the name of its founder. It gathers engravings, paintings and documents related to the history of the neighborhood. Handwritings of Julio de Caro (1899-1980, violinist, director and composer) are one of the outstanding attractions of this museum. Julio de Caro has played music with the most important artists of his age. He is the author of: “Tierra Querida”, “Boedo”, “Mala junta”, “Orgullo criollo”, “El arranque”, “Chiclana”, “Chantecler”, among others). Handwritings of Cátulo Castillo (1906-1975, poet and pianist) are attractive exhibitions. He has been the author of “María", “El aguacero”, “Viejo ciego”, “Acuarelita de arrabal”, “El circo se va”, “Corazón de papel”, “La última curda”, “Aquella cantina de la ribera”, “Caminito del taller”, “Silbando”, “A Homero” and “El patio de la morocha”.
The museum was founded in 1971.
“Fuimos abrazados a la angustia de un presagio / por la noche de un camino sin salidas, / pálidos despojos de un naufragio / sacudidos por las olas del amor y de la vida.” These are the lyrics of the tango song “Fuimos”, composed by Homero Manzi, and music by José Dames. The great composer and bandoneonist was born in 1928. He has participated in the orchestras of Francisco Rotundo and Atilio Bruni. He has composed "Nada", with lyrics by Horacio Sanguinetti; “Fuimos”, with lyrics by Homero Manzi; “Tú”, with José María Contursi, and “Por unos ojos negros”.
This is the corner mentioned by Homero Manzi in “Manoblanca”. A bust has been placed here in homage to the poet and a filleted mural has ‘rescued’ the lyrics of the song. This is the corner where the Manoblanca museum is located. This is a museum that gathers a collection of art works made by León Untroib –who portraits city personalities, like: Homero Manzi, Julián Centeya, Carlos Gardel, Julio De Caro, Tita Merello, Benito Quinquela Martín, Edmundo Rivero, Horacio Ferrer and Aníbal Troilo. At this corner, people can also enjoy a mural created by Jorge Muscia in homage to Homero Manzi. Nearby, the corner “La esquina del herrero, barro y pampa” mentioned in the tango song “Sur” here appears: Manzi referred to the blacksmith’s shop of Antonio Salustiano Musladino which was located on Centenera street, between Cóndor and Tabaré streets. Finally, people can see, at the intersection of Esquiú and Centenera, the Luppi school, where Manzi had studied between 1920 and 1923. In 1926, the school was closed and today the bar "El buzón" stands there.
Bus lines: 6, 42, 44, 46, 135, 150 y 193.
6. Sur, paredón y después
Murals. Centenera 3150 (between Ramírez and Santa Catalina)
The famous thick wall of “Sur”, tango song written by Homero Manzi, was the wall of the “Curtiembre y Charolaría” (a shop of tanning leather and patent leather) called Luppi, one of the oldest of our country. The poet had lived in Nueva Pompeya between 1921 and 1924. Twenty five years later, he composed this tango song, the lyrics of which recall an old love and masterly ‘draw’ his neighborhood of Nueva Pompeya.
“Pompeya y más allá la inundación” makes reference to the times when the neighborhood was an area of low lands so easily flooded. That place, when it was not yet a neighborhood, was known as “los pagos del Riachuelo” (the surroundings of the River).
The history is illustrated on the murals. The first one, made by Chilo Tulissi, recalls floods occurred during the beginning of century 20º. The second mural, made by Daniel Gatica and Guillermo Palazón, rescues the image of Avenida Saenz during the 30’s. Finally, the mural made by Francisco Panarisi shows the old fittings of the Curtiembre Luppi, which has been located in the neighborhood since 1873.
Bus lines: 6, 42, 44, 46, 135, 150 y 193.
7. Orthodox Church
Av. Int. Francisco Rabanal 1418
San Nicolás church practices worship to the Greek Orhodox religion. It is also the venue of the Hellenic Association "Panelinion" founded by the Greek immigrants. The building style is eclectic and the interior ornamentation has been brought from Greece.
The old general store called "La Antigua Blanqueada" was a mandatory stop on the "camino de los huesos" (today, Av. Sáenz). The current avenue was called ‘the way of the bones’ because it was surrounded by bones of the cows killed before their arrival to the abattoir of Parque Patricios. This place became a meeting point for all compadritos, malevos (antique characters of old tango nights and suburbs) and guitarists. Then, it was a general store. Today, it is a pizza restaurant.
By 1859, this bridge was built to unite Pompeya with Valentín Alsina over the River. The style is neocolonial. In 1939, it was called Teniente General José Félix Uriburu bridge, in homage to an Argentine military man in 1930. This is why bridge is still known and called “Alsina Bidge”. The neighborhood badge is located on the bridge: the image of the Pompeya church, the bridge, a street lamp of the tango suburbs nights, with an antique bandoneon and the Argentine ‘distinctive mark’: a tree which cuddles the neighborhood with its foliage and an intellectual shaking hands with a worker.
Nueva Pompeya has always been a neighborhood inhabited by workers of the surrounding abattoirs. In 1912, a workers’ neighborhood was built and the distinctive mark was the Clock Tower. It was created by Don Orione. In 1919, this place was the venue of painful events of the so called “Tragic Week”, an important strike during which hundreds of workers were killed due to the repression organized against the strikers.
Bus lines: 37, 70.
11. El Chino Bar
Beazley 3566 (at the intersection of Cachi street)
El Chino bar was built in 1944 by Jorge “El Chino” Garcés, who, as well as being in charge of the barbecue grill and the tables service, he used to sing tango songs accompanied by guitarists. This bar is a place where the tango can be expressed as a feast or a meeting point. The precarious architecture, an ornamentation totally based on posters and pictures, and the long tables where several people can enjoy the meals on paper tableware make it particularly special. A guitar or bandoneon are always present as well as ”chansoniers” of the neighborhood.
