Buenos Aires - A fascinating city Quiz

Answer: Racing Club

Racing Club is based on Avellaneda, located in the Greater Buenos Aires area, just south of the city of Buenos Aires.

Nicknamed "La Academia" ("The Academy"), Racing is considered one of the greatest and most popular football teams of Argentina. It holds the record for most consecutive domestic titles with seven, won between 1913 and 1919.

The other three options are located within Buenos Aires: River plays their matches at the Monumental Stadium in the neighborhood of Belgrano (though it is traditionally, and erroneously, considered to be located in Nuñez neighborhood), San Lorenzo's home stadium is currently located in the area known as Bajo Flores (the club was originally based on Boedo, but moved from their original headquarters after being forced to sell the stadium in 1979), and Boca plays in its namesake neighborhood, from which it took its name.

Answer: Underground railway

Buenos Aires' "subte" (derived from Spanish "subterráneo", meaning "underground") was the 13th subway system in the world, and the first in Latin America, the Southern Hemisphere, and the Spanish-speaking world, as the Madrid Metro didn't open until 1919.

As of 2022, the system is comprised of six lines, two of which (lines C and H) cover the central and eastern sections of the city in a north-south route, and the remaining four traverse the city in an east-west route. The Plaza de Mayo and its surroundings serve as a kind of hub - line A starts at the Casa Rosada, the Palace of Government; line B starts at the former Central Post Office, a few blocks away; line D starts at the Cathedral, and Line E starts near the City Legislature, at the southern end of the Plaza, though its terminus was expanded northwards to Retiro Railway Station in 2019.

Also part of the network are the light rail system called "Premetro", that serves a small section in the southwest of the city, and the Urquiza suburban line, which starts at Federico Lacroze train station (original terminus of the B line) and ends in the Campo de Mayo district, in Greater Buenos Aires.

Answer: Plaza de la Republica

Erected in 1936, the "Obelisco de Buenos Aires" honors the quadricentennial of the city's foundation.

It is located in the San Nicolas neighborhood, which owes its name to the San Nicolas de Bari church, that used to be located at the current square, where the national flag was hoisted for the first time in August 1812. This fact is honored by an inscription on one of the sides of the Obelisk.

Plaza de los Virreyes no longer exists as such: its name since 2011 is Plaza Tupac Amaru. It is a roundabout square located in Flores, serving as a transportation hub, since it connects the termini of both the Premetro light railway system and the Line E of the city's subway (which has retained the name of Plaza de los Virreyes). The latter is also the southernmost subway station in the world.

Answer: Avenida de Mayo

Bearing a resemblance to some European avenues, Avenida de Mayo features many architectural gems in various styles. Work for its opening started in 1885, and it was inaugurated on July 9th, 1894 (which, coincidentally, was the 78th anniversary of Argentina's Independence Day)

Starting at the western tip of the Plaza de Mayo (with the "Casa Rosada", the Presidential headquarters, being at the opposite end), it runs in a westerly direction for 1,5 km (0,93 mi), ending in the National Congress, after which it merges with another major vehicular artery, Avenida Rivadavia.

It was declared a National Historic Site in 1997, meaning that any change to the buildings, marquees, and general aesthetics of the avenue must be approved by a special commission before it can be carried out.

The "May" denomination, both for the avenue and for the central square, has it roots in the May Revolution of 1810, which ended in the installation of the first domestic government, subsequently leading to the Declaration of Independence in 1816.

Answer: Cemeteries

Those neighborhoods are home to the three public cemeteries in the city.

Recoleta is the oldest one, inaugurated in 1822, and it's definitely worth visiting: featuring numerous mausoleums of various architectural styles, and being home to the graves of many notable figures of Argentinian history, it is considered one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world.

The cemetery of San José de Flores opened in its current location in 1867, right after the annexation of the town of Flores by Buenos Aires, and Chacarita was the last one to be opened, during a yellow fever epidemic in 1871. It is currently the largest one in the whole country, and it contains designated areas for notable personalities of the artistic world such as actors/actresses and musicians.

Answer: Diego Maradona

Maradona needs no introduction for football fans. Widely regarded as one of the best players in history, he has been regarded as a national hero in Argentina ever since he commanded the national team to their second World Cup victory in 1986.

During his final years of activity, in the mid '90s, he returned to Buenos Aires and lived with his family at the aforementioned junction, located in the neighborhood of Villa Devoto. In October 1995, after an in-game clash with fellow Julio Cesar Toresani, Maradona famously challenged him in front of the TV cameras after the match, by saying: "I have no problem with him coming for me (looking for a fight) (...) I live in Segurola and Habana 4310, 7th floor, let's see if he can last 30 seconds". Following that statement, the place was forever associated with Maradona.

Following his death in November 2020, the corner started receiving visits from fans on a daily basis, and a commemorative plaque was unveiled honoring Maradona. The street signs were even covered with handmade new posters, dubbing it the "Diego Maradona corner".

Answer: All of these

A beautiful but puzzling neighborhood, Parque Chas is home to a few urban quirks:

- In the western part, Bauness Street makes a sharp turn to its right and continues its course. This makes it possible to stand in the corner of Bauness and Bauness!

- In the center of the neighborhood you can find Berlin Street, which is oval-shaped. Three other streets, Gandara, Avalos and Victorica, cross through its center, so if you were to walk along any of those, you would cross Berlin Street twice. The problem starts when someone tells you "meet me at Gandara and Berlin"; you have eight possible corners to wait on!

- And, speaking of Berlin Street, on its eastern border, there's a spot in which each sidewalk is part of a different street. So, by just crossing the street, you can go back and forth between Berlin and Marsella streets!

Answer: Carlos Gardel

"El Abasto" is an unofficial neighborhood, actually being part of Balvanera. It borrows its name from the Mercado de Abasto ("Abasto Market", or in general terms, "Supply Market"), a massive building that served as the central marketplace for fruits and vegetables in the city, up until 1984. It was reopened in 1999, reconverted into a shopping mall.

Gardel is the most famous of all tango singers. Born in France, he moved to Argentina when he was three years old, with his mother. As he rose to success, he bought a house in 1927, a few blocks away from the Abasto, for them to live in. He died in 1935 in a plane accident in Medellín, Colombia. A subway station, located right at the entrance of the mall, bears his name.

The other options are also notable names in Argentinian music, though in different genres.

Answer: Versalles

As it is located at a long distance from the civic center and the rest of the touristic attractions of Buenos Aires, Versalles is largely unknown to tourists, and even to some city residents.

It is a small residential section, different from the rest of the city in that no buildings over three stories high are allowed. Very few avenues cross through it, making it a lot more silent and with a significantly lower flow of traffic. Plus, it has the highest number of green spaces per inhabitant.

The neighborhood was previously served by a railway line, with the namesake station opening in 1911 and operating until its closing in 1952.

A small claim to fame for Versalles is that it served as the location for a 1985 cult Argentinian film, "Esperando La Carroza" ("Waiting for the Hearse"), with one of the houses now preserved as a cultural monument. A small cafe was also used for the filming of some scenes of "El Hijo de la Novia" ("Son of the Bride"), a 2001 movie that was nominated for Best Foreign Language movie at the 74th edition of the Academy Awards.

Answer: It has no public parks or squares within its limits

This small western neighborhood can be considered a "cement jungle": there are no green spaces to be found in it. Some of its residents have repeatedly filed petitions to reutilise some vacant terrains to turn them into small parks.

Its design is by no means confusing: it follows the usual grid pattern, with just a few streets running somewhat diagonally. The northern part contains several small passages that make for a cluster of small, narrow blocks.

Two major avenues pass through Villa Santa Rita: Av. Nazca and Av. Juan B. Justo, with the former being its main commercial district. Both avenues connect important spots within the city, so it's quite likely that you'll go through Santa Rita on the road to some of the usual destinations.

On a side note, even though it is one of the official neighborhoods, a lot of people in the city often ignore its location or denomination, mistaking it as part of the bigger adjacent districts such as Floresta or Villa del Parque.