Manzana de las Luces

You're standing beside an entire city block steeped in history. Look west along calle Alsina: the towers rising one block away belong to San Ignacio, the oldest surviving church in the city.

1The Society of Jesus's block

The Jesuits arrived in Buenos Aires in 1608. In 1661 Isabel de Carvajal gave them this plot, and here they built their college and their church. San Ignacio was begun in 1686, opened in 1722 and consecrated in 1734. Next door stood the Procuraduría de las Misiones, which handled the business of the Guaraní missions.

2From expulsion to university

In 1767 Charles III expelled the Jesuits from all his realms, and the block changed hands but not its calling. The Royal College of San Carlos opened in 1772. Later came the printing press, the public library and, on 12 August 1821, the University of Buenos Aires, founded inside San Ignacio church itself. That same year the Sala de Representantes was built, where the provincial legislature met.

On 1 September 1821 the newspaper El Argos christened it the «Manzana de las Luces», the Block of Enlightenment, for all the seats of learning it held.

The Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires is still here, a school whose classrooms shaped generations of Argentine leaders. Its current building opened in 1938.

3What to look for

• The towers of San Ignacio, one block along Alsina, on the corner of Bolívar.
• The gateway on Perú, entrance to the block's cultural complex.
• The Colegio Nacional, the large academic building on calle Bolívar.