Address: Florida 1040 – Retiro
Because of its historical value, the San Martín Square is second in importance, following Plaza de Mayo.
Its first antecedent dates from 1801, when, in the prolongation of Santa Fe Avenue and Marcelo T. de Alvear street a bullring was constructed for weekend bullfights. Towards 1812 it was in that place where the headquarters for the grenadiers were established under the control and command of Don Jose de San Martín. Those years, when the bullring and the quarters coincided, drew an outline of weird customs of the area, frequented by women of a wanton behaviour, and characters of suspicious activities, and was the perfect scene for the marginality of the beginnings of tango.
In 1819 the bullring was demolished and the Retiro quarters were built. It gave frame to a historical urban set of great architectonic value for the magnitude of emblematic buildings that surround it: the Kavanagh, the Sheraton Hotel, the Anchorena Palace; today, it is the seat for the Ministry of international Relations and Cult, the embassy of France, among others, and the Paz Palace, where today functions the Círculo Militar (Army Officers Club).
This square, declared historic place, belongs to the Dirección Nacional de Patrimonio (Department in charge of National Heritage).
