Plaza Italia in 1904

Now that I’m getting to know parts of Buenos Aires very well, I love coming across old pictures and comparing what was there then with what you can be seen now. So, I was very interested to discover the picture below showing our meeting point of Plaza Italia taken in 1904, with the Zoo in the backround (Avenida Sarmiento on the left and Avenida Las Heras on the right).

Plaza Italia 1904

Compare to a shot from Google Earth taken from roughly the same direction (the statue is in the centre at the bottom):

Plaza Italia 2010

Not surprisingly, a lot has changed over the last 107 years, not least the fact that back then, there was no pedestrian square as there is now, and trams rumbled right past Garibaldi himself.

A notable difference are the gateways that once ringed Plaza Italia. Indeed, before being renamed in 1908, the square was known as Plaza de los Portones, Square of the Gates, which were closed at night to block access to the Parque 3 de Febrero, (los Bosques de Palermo). One remains today as the entrance to the zoo, and can be seen on the right of the picture.