| 17 Manzana de las Luces - Iglesia San Ignacio |
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Technical Specifications:
Location: Alsina, Bolívar, Moreno, and Perú streets border the square
Neighbourhood: Monserrat
Buses: 7, 24, 26, 28, 29, 38, 45, 56, 59, 64, 67, 105.
Subway: Line A, Perú Station; Line D, Catedral Station; Line E, Bolívar Station.
Website: www.manzanadelasluces.gov.ar
The square has some of the oldest constructions remaining in Buenos Aires, such as San Ignacio, the oldest church of the city.
The name -suggested by the Argos newspaper in 1821- makes reference to the educational and cultural institutions that are located at the Manzana since centuries.
Its tracing is predicted in the first plans of Buenos Aires from 1580.
In 1661 it was transferred to the Jesuits, who raised a church at the "Manzana," a school, a drugstore, a printer´s, and the head office of their missions.
The San Ignacio School was opened in 1662 and soon it turned into a meeting point for the intellectuals of Buenos Aires. In 1863 the National state was in charge of the school which was still at the "Manzana," and it named it "Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires." Today is one of the two most prestigious secondary schools of the city, with the "Escuela Carlos Pellegrini."
The church of San Ignacio (Bolívar and Alsina) started to be built in 1686, over the adobe walls of a temple that already existed in the place. It was opened in 1722, and the architects who built it were Jesuits Krauss, Bianchi, and Prímolo.
At the end of the 18th Century the church acted as the city`s cathedral and it turned into a military quarter during the resistance to the English invasion from 1806.
After the order expel, in 1767, the medicine school, the National library, the first National museum, the University of Buenos Aires, the first theatre of Buenos Aires, the jurisprudence academy, the architecture and exact sciences schools established in this place.
Below the "Manzana" runs a network of tunnels from the 17th and 18th Centuries which joined buildings and churches from the city with the fort of Buenos Aires. It is believed that they were used for smuggling and to defend the city.
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