Adrogué

Adrogué
An Adrogué landmark: Espora Ave., at its intersection with Esteban Adrogué St.
Adrogué Location in Greater Buenos Aires
Coordinates:
Country	Argentina
Province	Buenos Aires
Partido	Almirante Brown
Elevation	24 m (79 ft)
Population (2001 census [INDEC])
• Total	28,265
• Density	1.9/km2 (5/sq mi)
CPA Base	B 1846
Area code(s)	+54 11

Adrogué (Spanish pronunciation: [aðɾoˈɣe]) is a city in Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina, located 23 km south of Buenos Aires. It is the administrative headquarters for Almirante Brown Partido (county).

At slightly more than 30,000 inhabitants, it is a prominent residential area, with numerous cobbled streets, lush trees and several squares. In addition, it has an important commercial center, with a variety of shops and banks.

History

In March 1873, Governor Mariano Acosta approved the projected sketch map for this town and named it Almirante Brown. The plan for the map was designed by Nicolás and José Canale, two renowned Italian architects, who included a number of diagonals and squares, which later inspired the urban design for the city of La Plata. The Canales also designed most of the public buildings in Adrogué (the Town Palace, the first church for Saint Gabriel, Castelforte, etc.) and the church of the Inmaculada Concepción in the neighbourhood of Belgrano ("La Redonda").

Borges and Adrogué

Jorge Luis Borges, an Argentine writer, spent many childhood summers there and loved the city so much that he named a book of poems after it in dedication. In an excerpt, he writes:

"Wherever in the world I might sense the smell of gum trees, I feel as if I had been take back to Adrogué. And that is exactly what Adrogué was: a large and quiet maze of streets surrounded by lush trees and country houses, a maze of many peaceful nights that my parents liked to traverse. Country houses in which you could guess how life was behind those country houses. In some way, I have always been there, I am always here. You take the places with yourself, the places are within yourself. I am still among the gum trees and labyrinths, that place where you can easily get lost. I guess you might as well get lost in Paradise. Bizarre statues turn pretty, a ruin that is not a ruin, a tennis court. And then, in the very Las Delicias Hotel, a big room with mirrors. I have certainly found myself in those infinite looking glasses. Many arguments, many scenes, many poems that I imagined were born in Adrogué or were fixed in Adrogué. Whenever I talk about gardens, whenever I talk about trees, I am in Adrogué; I have thought about that city, it is unnecessary to name it." (1981)

Hotel Las Delicias

Hotel Las Delicias was inaugurated on 1 December 1872. It had been previously Esteban Adrogué's private residence, but he decided to convert it into a hotel in response to wealthy families looking for a place to settle down in the area with the intention of building country houses, and his wish to turn this place into a summer resort. Thus, in 1873, Hotel Las Delicias was the preferred summer shelter of notable Argentines. To visit and stay there was at that time a respected distinction. Sarmiento, president of Argentina from 1868 to 1874, was one of those who enjoyed its amenities. The name of the hotel was conferred by Mr. Ochoa, friend of Esteban Adrogué, who exclaimed before its splendor, "this is a delight" (delicia is Spanish for delight).

Most recently, on the corner where the Hotel Las Delicias building was situated, there is a state school called Colegio Nacional Almirante Brown (Almirante Brown National School). This is where the Coro del Colegio Nacional de Adrogué (Almirante Brown National School Choir), composed entirely of students of the school, rehearses. Both the school and the choir have national prominence and are supported by the community and authorities of Adrogué.

Origin of the name

The city is named after its founder, Esteban Adrogué, who also founded Lomas de Zamora and donated lands for the installation of the train station, town hall, main square and other important buildings.

He suggested that the train station be called Almirante Brown, but since that name had already been used and it was customary to name a station after its land donor, it was finally called Adrogué station. As a matter of fact, for more than 100 years, the city was officially called Almirante Brown, a name used only for official purposes, until a law stated that the name Adrogué should be used for this locality in the late 1990s.

Notable public buildings and monuments

• Edificio Municipal, restored in 1991.
• Castelforte (former residence of the Canale architects).
• Historic building La Cucaracha, Swiss-style house built for Esteban Adrogué's two married daughters.
• The House of Culture, former theater and shopping mall.
• Adrogué Tennis Club (former residence of Esteban Adrogué).
• School EGB 16 (former residence of Carlos Pellegrini).
• School EGB 5 (founded by Domingo F. Sarmiento).
• Hospital Lucio Meléndez, named after the physician who died in this house on December 7, 1901.
• Monument to Admiral Gillermo Brown in the square with the same name.

Notable people

The local railway station.

Notable natives and inhabitants of the city include:

• Carlos Pellegrini (1846 - 1906), president of Argentina
• Jorge Luis Borges (1899 - 1986), writer, considered one of the foremost literary figures of the 20th century, lived as a child in Adrogué
• es (1909 - 1977), teacher and historian
• Ricardo Piglia (born 1940), writer
• Juan Gujis (born 1946), publicist and TV announcer
• Ricardo López Murphy (born 1951), economist, former minister of Defense and presidential candidate
• Fernando Redondo (born 1969), soccer player
• Dolores Fonzi (born 1978), actress

Trivia

The two local theaters, Cine Adrogué and Cine Argentino, were closed down around the beginning of the 1990s. One of them was turned into a shopping mall, which went into bankruptcy about a year after opening its doors and finally became the House of Culture. The other one houses a Protestant church. Some years later, a 10-screen Cinemark complex was built at the Boulevard Shopping mall, a fact that allowed the city to have local theaters again.

External links

General information

• (Spanish) Almirante Brown's town hall website
• (Spanish) AdrogueLive.com general information provided, covering events.

Cultural institutions

• (Spanish) Coro Juvenil Adrogué The youth choir of Adrogué whose director is Ricardo Barrera
• (Spanish) Coro de cámara Adrogué (Adrogué's chamber choir)
• (Spanish) Fundación de altos estudio Adrogué
• (Spanish) Centro Cultural de Adrogué