El Congreso Nacional

Situated at one end of the architectural centrepiece of Buenos Aires, the Congreso Nacional is a spectacular building that never fails to impress the first time you see it. Home to the 2 chambers of the Argentine parliament, it was started in 1895 and opened for business in 1906.

Congreso Nacional, Buenos Aires

However, due to the fact that the vast majority of the materials were shipped in from Europe, the building wasn’t actually completed until 1946. Based on the Capitol building in Washington DC, it boasts the largest dome in South America, measuring 42 x 25 metres and weighing an impressive 30,000 tons.

Congreso Nacional, Buenos Aires

Plaza de Congreso in front of the building, designed by French landscape architect Carlos Thays, is one of the grandest squares in South America, although it has seen better days. Featuring the grand Monumento de los Congresos with its fountains, Kilometre 0 and the only original mould of Rodin’s The Thinker in South America, it’s a potent symbol of the wealth that Argentina possessed 100 years ago.

Plaza Congreso, Buenos Aires

So, if you’ve spent all day trying to book cheap car hire in cyprus and you need a break, go stretch your legs in the beautiful surroundings of the Plaza de Congreso.

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