Avenida Corrientes

Coordinates: 34°36′14″S 58°23′10″W / 34.603978°S 58.386201°W / -34.603978; -58.386201
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Location of Avenida Corrientes in Buenos Aires

Avenida Corrientes (English: Corrientes Avenue) is one of the principal thoroughfares of the

tango and the porteño sense of identity. Like the parallel avenues Santa Fe, Córdoba, and San Juan, it takes its name from one of the Provinces of Argentina
.

It extends 69 blocks from Eduardo Madero Avenue in the eastern

Buenos Aires Metro
runs most of its length underneath the street.

The Asociación Amigos de la Calle Corrientes ("Friends of Corrientes Street Association") is a group that collaborates on the urban planning of the street. They have placed commemorative plaques on 40 street corners bearing the distinguished figures from the history of the tango.

History

City lights along Corrientes Avenue shortly before its widening in the 1930s.
Intersection with Avenida 9 de Julio
Corrientes Avenue viewed from "el bajo"

It was named Del Sol during the 17th century, San Nicolás from 1738 to 1808, and De Incháurregui from 1808 until 1822, when it received its current name. Never more than a street of average width during the nineteenth century, traffic swelled after the city began its rapid westward expansion, around 1880. Horse-drawn tramways first ran on the avenue in 1887; but, they soon proved inadequate and in 1910, Mayor Joaquín de Anchorena signed a bill authorizing its widening.

The plan called for the massive razing of most of the avenue's north-side real estate and, so, met with strenuous opposition from affected landlords, retailers, as well as intellectuals like Roberto Arlt. A coup d'ètat in 1930, however, made way for the plan's implementation, carried out relentlessly until its completion, in 1936. Today, when referring to Corrientes prior to the widening, the term "Narrow Corrientes" (Corrientes Angosta) is still used. Also the name "Corrientes Street" (calle Corrientes) is often preferred over the correct "Corrientes Avenue" (avenida Corrientes) specially on the famous centrical stretch (with that name it appears famously in several tango lyrics, see below).

The newly inaugurated avenue coincided with the construction of the

9th of July Avenue
intersection. Corrientes, like most major city avenues, was made a one-way thoroughfare by a 1967 municipal ordinance. Growing traffic demands led to the opening of the avenue through the plaza, and around the Obelisk, in 1971.

The first few blocks (from Leandro N. Alem to

9 de Julio Avenue to Uruguay St the avenue forms the Southern border of the lawyers' district surrounding the nearby Plaza Lavalle and the Supreme Court
(see "Points of Interest" below)

Nightlife

For most of the 20th century "Calle Corrientes" was a symbol of

porteños (as reflected in lyrics such as "Moscato, pizza y fainá"[6]). The Revista porteña or Teatro de revistas (Argentina's culture of theatre revues) with its glittering vedettes and racy capo-cómicos (legendary starlets and comedians) is still centered around this stretch of Corrientes – the lure of red carpet opening nights where celebrities can be glimpsed adding to the folklore. At the farthest end – the Luna Park
is still synonymous with mass sports and entertainment events such as boxing matches or concerts.

Throughout the decades the street has seen its own fauna of urban stereotypes, from the "innocent

X-rated
European movies when they started to appear in the '60s and '70s (although more visible on neighbouring Lavalle St) to the "psico-bolches" – artsy students and intellectuals (typically leftist – bolchevique – and/or dabbling in psychology, thus the nickname) who mulled around its bookstores and cultural centres in the early 80s after the return of democracy

The emergence of video, the Internet, cineplex and shopping malls reduced much of the allure of Corrientes, and saw the closing of several famous cinemas and theatres.[7] Yet sidewalks were widened and beautified in 2005 to facilitate retail activity along the avenue, which had declined since the 1970s.[8] and today Corrientes is once again thriving at night - specially among theatre goers, with several major playhouse renovations and additions. Since the '80s the trend towards world-famous Broadway musicals in Spanish coexists with the more traditional or avant-garde serious theatre and the popular Teatro de Revistas. The last blocks of this main stretch, between Avenida Callao and Uruguay Street are converted into an expansive outdoor reading room during Bookstore Night, an annual event inaugurated in 2007.[9]

Mayor Mauricio Macri announced in 2010 that the financial district section of Corrientes - between Ninth of July and Avenida Leandro N. Alem, would become a two-way avenue.[10]

Points of interest

Base to obelisk

“The street that never sleeps”

Off-Corrientes

"Off-Corrientes" refers to the alternative playhouse scene, much of it literally concentrated on surrounding streets – although also widely distributed elsewhere in city neighbourhoods. The Rojas Cultural Center of the University of Buenos Aires, which promotes experimental art, and like-minded venues such as Gandhi and Liberarte (which blend bookstore and cultural centre) although catering to "off-Corrientes" crowds, are themselves located on Corrientes.

Gandhi Bookstore (now defunct). The avenue continues to be a book browser's mecca.

Once

Further down, Corrientes traverses the

Koreans, Bolivians and Peruvians
).

Abasto

Beyond Pueyrredón Avenue is the neighbourhood of

IRSA
turned the imposing old market into what is today, the city's largest shopping center.

Almagro

The Villa Crespo section of the avenue

Further down Corrientes is

Rivadavia
Avenues.

Villa Crespo

football club. The barrio was home to tango great Osvaldo Pugliese
.

Chacarita

Corrientes ends at the

Estación Federico Lacroze train station next to Parque Los Andes, where fairs were held until September 2005. Just west of the park is La Chacarita Cemetery; the largest in Argentina. The cemetery is at times referred to colloquially and in tango lyrics as La Quinta del Ñato (a lunfardo term referring to a person's last dwelling
).

Corrientes in tango music

Corrientes Avenue is featured in several tango lyrics, notably:

  • A media luz by Carlos Lenzi and Edgardo Donatto
  • Calle Corrientes by Alberto Vaccarezza and Enrique Delfino
  • Corrientes angosta by Ángel "Pocho" Gatti
  • Corrientes y Esmeralda by Celedonio Flores and Francisco Pracánico
  • Tristezas de la calle Corrientes by Homero Expósito and Domingo Federico, 1942
  • Pucherito de gallina
  • Café Dominguez

References

  1. ^ "Corrientes Avenue Never Sleeps - Buenos Aires". Welcome Argentina. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
  2. ^ "Buenos Aires, Latin America's theatre capital".
  3. ISBN 978-1-4053-8642-5
    .
  4. ^ Uki Goñi (June 19, 2015). "A novel oasis: why Argentina is the bookshop capital of the world". The Guardian.
  5. ^ Lillo Montalto Monella (March 28, 2012). "Top 5 Pizzerias". The Argentina Independent.
  6. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Moscato, Pizza y Fainá - Memphis la blusera En Vivo". YouTube.
  7. ISBN 978-1-84162-351-1
    .
  8. ^ "La avenida Corrientes pierde un carril". La Nación.
  9. ^ "La avenida Corrientes, un gran escenario literario". Clarín.
  10. ^ "Avenida de Mayo y Corrientes serán doble mano antes de fin de año". Infobae.

External links

Media related to Avenida Corrientes at Wikimedia Commons

34°36′14″S 58°23′10″W / 34.603978°S 58.386201°W / -34.603978; -58.386201

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