Basilica of Santo Domingo

Look at the church's left tower. Those round marks scattered across it recall a battle fought right here, in July 1807.

1Redcoats in the convent

Britain tried twice to seize Buenos Aires. In 1806 the city was occupied and then retaken; in 1807 the British came back with a larger army. During the street fighting on 5 July, a column took refuge in this Dominican convent and fired from the tower, the only one standing at the time. The guns of the fort answered, and the soldiers eventually surrendered.

2The marks on the tower

According to 19th-century accounts, the cannonballs stayed lodged in the tower and, in the days of Juan Manuel de Rosas, were replaced with wooden replicas. So the marks you see faithfully record where the shots hit, but they aren't the original projectiles.

Inside the basilica are British flags captured during the invasions and offered to Our Lady of the Rosary.

3Belgrano's tomb

In the forecourt lies Manuel Belgrano, creator of the Argentine flag, who was born a few metres away and asked to be buried in this convent. He died poor in 1820. The mausoleum you see, by the Italian sculptor Ettore Ximenes, was unveiled in 1903. The right-hand tower, by the way, was added long after the battle: sources date it to 1849 or 1856.

4What to look for

• The marks on the left tower, witnesses of 1807.
• Belgrano's mausoleum, with its allegorical figures.
• The two towers: compare the old one with the one added in the 19th century.