El Obelisco

El Obelisco review

The Obelisco was built to mark four of the city's key historical events: the first and the final foundation of Buenos Aires; the 1880 declaration of the city as the country's federal capital; and to mark the site of the demolished church of San Nicolás where the national flag was first flown. When the 68-metre (223-foot) obelisk was completed in 1935, the critics went to town, describing it as an undignified, phallic, cement spike.

Radical feminist groups suggested lopping it in half, and three years after its inauguration the city's parliament voted for its demolition. The decision was ignored and the Obelisco became, over time, the city's postcard emblem and a symbol of its self-conscious monumentalism.