La Plata
396249
225395731
2008-07-13T13:30:30Z
75.82.22.106
{{otherplaces2|La Plata}}
{{Infobox Settlement
|official_name = {{PAGENAME}}
|image_skyline = Catedral-La Plata-1.jpg
|imagesize = 140px
|image_caption = ''La Plata Cathedral''.
|image_shield = Escudo-LP.gif
|pushpin_label_position = bottom
|pushpin_map1 = Buenos Aires Province
|pushpin_label_position1 = bottom
|pushpin_map_caption1 = Location in [[Buenos Aires Province]]
|pushpin_mapsize1 = 200
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = {{ARG}}
|subdivision_type1 = [[Provinces of Argentina|Province]]
|subdivision_name1 = [[Image:Bandera Buenos Aires.svg|border|24px]] [[Buenos Aires Province|Buenos Aires]]
|subdivision_type2 = [[Partido]]
|subdivision_name2 = [[La Plata Partido|La Plata]]
|leader_name = [[Pablo Bruera]]
|established_title = Founded
|established_date = [[19 November]] [[1882]]
|population_as_of = {{census-ar|2001}}
|population_total = 690,616
|population_density_km2 =
|latd=34 |latm=55 |longd=57 |longm=56 |latNS=S|longEW=W
|elevation_m = 26
|postal_code_type = [[Argentine postal code|CPA Base]]
|postal_code = [[ISO 3166-2:AR|B]] 1900
|area_code = +[[Telephone numbers in Argentina|54]] 221
|website =
}}
'''La Plata''' is the capital city of the [[Provinces of Argentina|province]] of [[Buenos Aires Province|Buenos Aires]], [[Argentina]], as well as of the [[departments of Argentina|partido]] of [[La Plata Partido|La Plata]]. The city was planned to serve as the capital of the province after the city of [[Buenos Aires]] was declared as the federal district in [[1880]]. Per the {{census-ar|2001}}, the city proper has a population of 574,369 and its [[metropolitan area]] has 694,253 inhabitants.
[[Image:Pasaje_Dardo_Rocha-La_Plata-1.jpg|thumb|240px|left|''Pasaje Dardo Rocha'' Building, named in honor of the city's founder.]]
La Plata was officially founded by governor [[Dardo Rocha]] on [[November 19]] [[1882]] and its construction was fully documented in photographs by Tomás Bradley Sutton.<ref>[http://www.laplatamagica.com.ar/curi1882tercepar.htm Thomas Bradley: The photographer of Dardo Rocha (in Spanish)]</ref>
Its current mayor is [[Pablo Bruera]].
It was referred to as [[Eva Perón|Eva Perón City]] ("Ciudad Eva Perón") between 1952 and 1955.
==History and brief description==
[[Image:City Hall in La Plata.jpg|thumb|left|180px|City Hall in La Plata.]]
[[Image:DardoRocha.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Governor Dardo Rocha (1838-1921), founder of La Plata.]]
[[Image:Buenos Aires - La Plata1.jpg|thumb|left|180px|[[Cathedral of La Plata]]]]
Rocha decided to erect a new city to host the provincial government institutions and the planned [[university]]. Urban planner [[Pedro Benoit]] designed a city layout based on a [[rationalism|rationalist]] [[urban planning|conception of urban centers]]. The city (see figure) has the shape of a square with a central park and two main diagonal avenues, north-south and east-west. (In addition, there are numerous other shorter diagonals.) This design is copied in a [[fractals|self-similar manner]] in small blocks of six by six blocks in length. Every six blocks, one finds a small park or square. Other than the diagonals, all streets are on a rectangular grid, and are numbered consecutively. Thus, La Plata is nicknamed "la ciudad de las diagonales" ("city of diagonals"). It is also called "la ciudad de los tilos" ("city of [[tilia]] ([[linden tree]])") because of the large number of linden trees lining many streets and squares.
The city design and its buildings are said to possess a strong [[Freemason]] symbolism. This is said to be a consequence of both Rocha and Benoit being Freemasons.
[[Image:PA280461.JPG|thumb|260px|Panoramic view of La Plata.]]
The designs for the government buildings were chosen in an international architectural competition. Thus, the Governor Palace was designed by [[Italy|Italians]], City Hall by [[Germany|Germans]], etc. Electric street lighting was installed in 1884, and was the first of its kind in Latin America.
The [[cathedral of La Plata]], in neo-Gothic style, is the largest church in Argentina.
The [[Curutchet House]] is one of the two buildings by [[Le Corbusier]] in the Americas. The [[Teatro Argentino de La Plata]] is the second most-important [[opera house]] in Argentina after the [[Teatro Colon]] in [[Buenos Aires]].
The [[Universidad Nacional de La Plata|La Plata University]] was founded in 1897 and nationalized in 1905. It is well-known for its [[La Plata Astronomical Observatory|observatory]] and [[paleontology]] museum. [[Ernesto Sabato]] graduated in physics; he went on to teach at the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]] and the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] before becoming a famed novelist. Doctor [[René Favaloro]] was another famous alumnus. During its early years, it attracted a number of renowned intellectuals from the Spanish-speaking world, such as [[Dominican Republic|Dominican]] [[Pedro Henriquez Ureña]].
The city was renamed in [[1952]] as [[Eva Perón]]; the original name was restored in [[1955]].
The city is home to two [[football (soccer)]] teams that play in the [[Primera División Argentina|first division]]: [[Estudiantes de La Plata]] and [[Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata]].
[[Image:La_Plata_-_Estaci%C3%B3n_del_Ferrocarril_Roca.jpg|thumb|260px|Railway station, La Plata.]]
==Climate==
Usually warm and humid in the summer. Mild winters.<br>
Average temperature: 16.3° C<br>
Average clear days: 126 Rain: 1023 Mn<br>
Average humidity: 78%
==People==
[[Image:Museo_de_La_Plata_2.jpg|thumb|260px|Museum of Natural History.]]
See {{cl|People from La Plata}}
==Sister Cities==
* {{flagicon|Israel}} [[Beersheba]], [[Israel]]
* {{flagicon|United States}} [[Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville]], [[Kentucky]], [[USA]]
* {{flagicon|Uruguay}} [[Montevideo]], [[Uruguay]]
* {{flagicon|UK}} [[Liverpool]], [[England]]
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
==External links==
*{{es icon}} [http://www.laplata.gov.ar Official government website]
*{{es icon}} http://www.mapa.laplata.gov.ar Interactive Map of La Plata
*{{es icon}} {{ar-mi-muni|BUE066}}
{{Provincial capitals of Argentina}}
{{Turismo Carretera}}
[[Category:1882 establishments]]
[[Category:Capitals of Argentine provinces]]
[[Category:Cities in Buenos Aires Province]]
[[Category:Settlements in Buenos Aires Province]]
[[Category:La Plata]]
[[Category:Planned communities]]
[[Category:Urban planning in Argentina]]
[[Category:Planned cities]]
[[Category:Settlements established in 1882]]
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