Avenida 9 de Julio in Buenos Aires is a fourteen-lane wide, almost a kilometer long avenue in the city center, with a name that honors Argentina’s day of independence, July 9, 1816.
First plans to build Avenida 9 de Julio were done in 1888, but the construction work on the avenue got underway only in 1935, with the route gaining its current final shape in 1960s.
At its best, the avenue is 14 lanes and 140 meters wide, making it the widest city center avenue in the world, along which you can find park-like pedestrian areas, decorated with statues and fountains, in addition to the wide walkways to the sides.
PHOTO: An aerial image of Avenida 9 de Julio, towards the boulevard’s northern end, and area, where most of the city’s best luxury boutiques and five star hotels are located.
PHOTO: Along the boulevard, you can find several monuments, the most famous of which is (on the left) the Buenos Aires obelisk, surrounded by an entertainment district modeled after New York City’s Times Square, called ‘Punto Obelisco’.
PHOTO: A view towards the southern end of the boulevard, which contains, for example, one of the main railway stations, Estación Constitución, with trains departing from there towards Southern Argentina.
PHOTO: Avenida 9 de Julio offers many of the most famous hotels in Buenos Aires, but the best shopping streets are on the avenue’s sidestreets, including Avenida Corrientes and Avenida Santa Fe. The view on the picture is from the corner of Sarmiento street (with a banner ad for American TV crime series “Detroit 1-8-7”).
Buenos Aires obelisk, which is the avenues’ central point together with Plaza de la República square, is the main tourist attraction within the route. Other points of interest on the avenue include:
- French embassy (www.embafrancia-argentina.org) building, architecturally one of the most important buildings within the avenue;
- Teatro Colón opera house;
- Statue of Don Quixote on the corner of Avenida de Mayo;
- Fountains on the corner of Avenida Cordoba;
- Monumental building for Argentina’s Ministry of Health, on the corner of Avenida Belgrano;
- Estación Constitución and the adjacent Plaza Constitución square.