Villa Devoto

Villa Devoto legally counts as one of the 48 neighborhoods of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. It is characterized by being an urban residential neighborhood, whose beginning is due to the Real Estate Bank that bought the land to establish a new town, at the request of its president Mr. Antonio Devoto, in whose honor it owes its name. It is considered "The garden of the city", since it has more trees than any other Buenos Aires neighborhood^{[citation required]}. There is less vehicular traffic compared to other areas of the Federal Capital^{[citation required]}. Their houses are large, country houses and mansions with large gardens, with not too many buildings.

The neighborhood has the highest geographical point in the city, located at the intersection of Francisco Beiró and Chivilcoy avenues. Popular belief says that this crossing is at the same height as the dome of the National Congress, however, this turns out to be false since it is located at a height of 26.71 meters above sea level, far below of the 80 meters high that the dome of the government building reaches.

Currently, part of Villa Devoto has an initial approval Law S/Nº /GCABA/13 that proposes a rezoning of certain areas, mainly that which contains the historic center of the neighborhood. With the obligation to protect its old houses, the natural environment, the forestry and the cobblestones, among other benefits.

Geographical location

The Villa Devoto neighborhood is comprised of Avenida General Paz, Calle Campana, Calle Gutenberg, Av. San Martín, Av. Francisco Beiró, Calle Joaquín V. González, Calle Baigorria and Av. Lope de Vega. It borders the neighborhoods of Villa Pueyrredón to the north, Agronomía and Villa del Parque to the east, Monte Castro and Villa Real to the south, and the districts of Tres de Febrero and General San Martín to the west.

Toponymy

Its name was given in homage to Don Antonio Devoto who was the owner of these lands, possessor of one of the largest fortunes in the country and South America. He interacted with the highest Buenos Aires elite of the time and helped his country of origin, Italy, so much during the First World War that he obtained the title of Count, granted by the King.

History

Origins

Towards the end of 1615, the then governor of the Río de La Plata, Don Hernando Arias de Saavedra, granted several hundred hectares to Don Cristóbal de Luque y Cobos in what is now the center of Devoto, in addition to the north of Agronomía, Villa Pueyrredón and the west of Villa Urquiza.

Around 1700, a group of Jesuits settled to the east of the neighborhood, on the corner of Helguera and Navarro. In 1767 the residents were expelled from their land and the building was abandoned. It was still standing in the middle of the 19th century.

In 1734, these lands became the property of Don José Blas de Gainza, which is why they were called "de Gainza y Lynch". His heirs kept them until 1852, the year in which they sold them to Don Santiago Altube, a Basque farmer who had immigrated to Argentina with his family in 1846 fleeing the Carlist Wars. The Altube family founded an agricultural-livestock establishment in 1856 in what is now the center of the neighborhood and his heirs lived there until 1882. They also exploited a dairy farm in the area called Lechuza.

As of February 25, 1864, the lands were integrated into the neighboring district of General San Martín (northern zone of the GBA), as were Villa Pueyrredón, Villa Real and Villa Talar. Its first mayor was Félix Ballester, and his son Pedro Ballester moved to the town of Villa Devoto after marrying in 1894.

In February 1888 and as a result of the federalization of the city of Buenos Aires, San Martín had to resign to the Federal Capital its lands north of what years later would be the layout of General Paz Avenue. Since then, the lands of Devoto and its surroundings remained within the capital. On March 25 of the same year, the Pacific Railway passed through the newly incorporated neighborhood for the first time, in which only a few dozen people lived. On April 6, the first tram on horseback passed over the tracks of what is now the Antonio Devoto Station. At that time there were several dozen inhabitants and only one street (Camino de Gainza, today Avenida Beiró). On November 13, the Devoto Station was inaugurated, a fact that further favored the growth of the town.

On February 14, 1889, the Real Estate Bank (chaired by Don Antonio Devoto) completed the acquisition of those lands abandoned by the Altube family (more than 4 million square meters) for 2 million pesos, although the old owners conserved 42 hectares. In April of the same year, an ambitious project to form a new town in the area was presented to the Municipality along with the plans of the engineers Carlos Buschiazzo and José Poggi. This first sketch of the neighborhood projected a series of boulevards and diagonals distributed around of Plaza Arenales (then called Santa Rosa), and had the peculiarity that the names planned for the streets were of cities: those that ran from north to south would have names of European cities, and those from east to west would have American names. Finally, the Bank offered to transfer 1,679,823 m² of land to the Municipality for the construction of streets, avenues and squares. It was also promised to build a school, a church, a market and a court.

The proposal was approved by Mayor Guillermo Cranwell on April 13 of the same year (considered the founding date) and then the sale of lots, the layout of streets and the planting of trees began. Before the construction could become widespread, the crisis of 1890 meant a severe setback for the prosperity of the neighborhood, forcing the works in progress to stop (among them the first school and the first church). This event even affected the Real Estate Bank, which had to return a large part of the land to the Altube family in 1892.

1890s

By 1895, the national crisis had already dissipated and the Altube family sold many of the lands they had recovered three years earlier. The neighborhood had already returned to the path of prosperity; There were already more than 60 buildings built and more than 200 inhabitants. On March 14, the first social establishment in the area was founded: SITAS, a club of Italian immigrants focused on sports shooting. On September 20, the original building of the club was inaugurated with a huge celebration in which the president of the Nation Marcelo T. de Alvear, some of his ministers and all the Devoto brothers were present. This club was fundamental for social growth of the neighborhood in its beginnings, and shooting tournaments were held annually at its headquarters (the first being on September 20, 1896). Faced with a possible war conflict with Chile, several garrisons of the Argentine Army frequently went there to practice marksmanship.

On April 4 of that same year, the "Delfín Gallo" It was inaugurated, being the first educational establishment in the area. In the first school year, more than 70 students signed up, the director being Mrs. María Isabel Aveleyra and the first grade teacher being Miss Susana Filgueira.

On March 10, 1896, the Villa Devoto Development Society was founded with Mr. Delmidio Latorre as first president. Its objectives respond to the precariousness of urban equipment in terms of pavements, means of transport and educational and health establishments, and constitute a tool for the neighborhood to obtain a rapid response from authorities, whether municipal or national. This entity promotes the establishment of police, health, mail, tram lines, civil registry services, etc. The requests that are made generally obtain favorable responses. In successive presentations they achieved the installation of a post office, the increase from 4 to 8 agents in the police force, the opening of the level crossing of the Avenida de la Capital (today Chivilcoy) with the Pacific Railway tracks, the installation of streetlights for street lighting, tree planting, etc.

In the same 1896, the first police detachment was established in the neighborhood: the detachment of the 30th Police Station, located at Pedro Morán and Joaquín V. González.

20th century

Neighborhood anniversaries

In 1904 some streets changed their names and the Santa Rosa square was renamed Arenales. Certain roads were paved, others already had kerosene lanterns installed.

In August 1905 and after eight years of waiting, the health service arrived in the neighborhood after the establishment of a health station at Pareja 3322 with Dr. Eduardo Peña as director. Initially it functioned as a medical office for the residents of Devoto and other surrounding neighborhoods. During the next seven years, this small clinic (even without its own pharmacy or care beds) moved to different houses rented by the Municipality, until settling permanently in an old country house in New York and Bahía Blanca. It then received the name "Neighborhood Hospital" and the house was progressively adapted to be so.

On August 4, 1906, the Kimberley Atlético Club was founded at Joaquín V. González 3238 by the Pianaroli brothers, who had already founded the Club Atlético Platense a year before. Today, Kimberley is one of the best futsal clubs in the country.

Since 1908, the use of horses in the Rural Tramway was abandoned to make way for the new electric tram. The already electrified line 86 began to pass in 1910 and stopped at four points: San Martín, Antonio Devoto, Chivilcoy and América.

In 1914, the 'Sociedad de Fomento de Villa Devoto Norte' was founded towards the north of the neighborhood, to respond to the needs and interests of the residents located northwest of Av. San Martín (area then considered within the neighborhood). Most of them were immigrants who arrived at the beginning of the 20th century (Spanish, Italian, Syrian-Lebanese, Polish and Russian).

On June 1, 1921, the "Villa Devoto Oeste Development Association" on Bermúdez Street. It meant the first step towards the population of the western part of the neighborhood, characterized today by the Prison inaugurated in 1927.

In October 1929, the first mass was celebrated in the Basilica of San Antonio de Padua after almost four decades of slow progress in the construction of the building. Later some other smaller churches were built in the neighborhood.

At the beginning of the 30's New works began to fill the area with housing, lay out more streets, pave the existing ones, and install modern public lighting to replace the old kerosene. It was in this decade when the neighborhood took the shape it has today.

In 1931 the Club Atlético Estudiantes de Buenos Aires moved its headquarters to Desaguadero and José Pedro Varela, land that it still owns and where a gymnasium operates.

In 1933 the Zubizarreta Hospital (formerly Vecinal) began operations after completing the construction and renovation of its current headquarters. It treated 44,945 patients in its first year of service.

On May 24, 1938, the Antonio Devoto Library was inaugurated in front of Plaza Arenales, which would have been designed by its namesake.

On May 11, 1950, the Club Atlético General Lamadrid was founded in the western area of the neighborhood (at that time sparsely inhabited), which over the years became another symbol of the neighborhood due to the particular characteristic of having its stadium in front of the jail.

The Devoted Palace

In 1913 Antonio Devoto acquired a block to build a real palace on it, possibly promoted by his second wife, Mrs. Elina Pombo. Known as the Devoted Palace, the imposing construction was never completed and neither Don Antonio nor his wife Elina lived in it. Many legends were woven around the objective of building the monumental palace with supposed royal aspirations. The truth is that Don Antonio died in 1916 and his wife in 1923 without it being finished yet.

Built on Avenida Nacional (Salvador M. del Carril) and occupied an area of 10,238 m², the project was the responsibility of architect Juan Antonio Buschiazzo. The palace's goldwork was made of bronze and silver, the painting on the ceilings rested on gold backgrounds, the iron was forged in Italy and the Florentine mosaics were never installed and rested in unpacked boxes in the basement of the palace at the time of the construction. death of Elina, who, having no children, leaves the fortune inherited from Antonio to her brother and sisters who, not knowing what purpose to give to this white elephant, decide to sell it. The buyer, who was thinking of establishing a clinic, sees his dream frustrated and when trying to sell the building he creates the legend that it had been built to house the King of Italy. At the beginning of the 1940s, the majestic Devoto Palace was demolished, its interior finished off and its land subdivided into lots.

Better luck went to Don Antonio Devoto's weekend house, which occupies the block between Av. Salvador María Del Carril, Gualeguaychú, Nueva York and Mercedes, where a school that bears his name currently operates.

Notable places

Among the many notable residences of the time there is one whose exterior is still preserved and is the 'Casa de la Villa', in the Italic style, where the Englishman W. Huxable lived with his family. It has beautiful, well-designed gardens, with period trellises and perfect night lighting. It is currently used as a party hall (4400 Gualeguaychú street).

Part of what was the Englishman John O. Hall's villa, famous for his orchid greenhouse, the best internationally, is still preserved. This Englishman dedicated himself to the import and wholesale trade of tea and whiskey with great commercial success. In love with the area, he settled in the place. Very lonely, he did not form a family (because he assured that marriage would be an obstacle to caring for his orchids). He was an Anglican who converted to Catholicism, being a fervent believer to the point that he built a chapel that was the first place of public prayer in front of his house in Havana and Bahía Blanca.

His villa was frequented by illustrious personalities such as General Julio Argentino Roca, the Prince of Wales, and Dr. Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear. He died in 1936 donating his fortune to the service personnel and his residence to the University of Buenos Aires to found the School of Botany there. He was undoubtedly a great benefactor, and today the School of Floriculture and Gardening operates on the site, which teaches courses to the interested public according to the legacy of Mr. John O. Hall and which bears his name.

As it was one of the favorite neighborhoods of the British community, a group of English and North American women founded the Garden Club which achieved its legal status in 1978. These groups reproduced throughout the country and today the Buenos Aires Garden Club is affiliated with similar associations in the United States, Latin America and England.

News

For decades, the residents of the neighborhood have been demanding the demolition of the Devoto Prison, but it has not stopped its operations since 1927.

Personalities born in the neighborhood

The poet Olegario Andrade was the owner of a country house on 4000 Asunción Street.

Villa Devoto is one of the best preserved neighborhoods in the city of Buenos Aires. Its green and residential appearance make it one of the most exclusive places with the best quality of life in the city.

Public transportation

Villa Devoto has a good connection with the public transportation system of the metropolitan area, standing out from many of the other neighborhoods for its multiple rail connectivity. It is crossed by 3 railway lines, 26 bus lines.

Trains

• Line Mitre (Ramal Súarez)

It runs along part of the northern limit of the neighborhood, although it does not have a station within its limits, with the Miguelete Station (located on the other side of the border of General Paz Avenue) being the closest.

• San Martín Line
  • Devoto

• Urquiza Line
  • Antonio Devoto
  • The Liberator

Bus Lines

21 25 28 47 53 78 80 85 87 90 105 107 108 109 110 114 117 123 124 134 135 146 161 169 176 181

Metrobus

Part of the Metrobús Avenida San Martín corridor runs through Villa Devoto. As it passes through the neighborhood, 5 bus lines run (78, 87, 105, 123, 176), although along its entire route to Avenida Juan B. Justo it is used by a total of 11 lines. The stops in Villa Devoto are:

• Solano López
• José Cubas
• Mosconi
• Ladines

Establishments

Cultural establishments

• Library Antonio Devoto, located in Bahía Blanca 4025
• Centro Cultural Devoto, located in New York 4169

Ecclesiastical establishments

• Universidad de Buenos Aires, better known as Villa Devoto Seminary, located in José Cubas 3543. In it were formed successive generations of priests and bishops of Argentina.
• Faculty of Immaculate Theology Conception of the Catholic University of Argentina, which provides all university degrees of theological science.
• Basilica San Antonio de PaduaAv. Lincoln 3751
• Parishs
  • Immaculate Conception, José Cubas 3599
  • Jesus of Good Hope, José León Cabezón 3350
  • St. John the Baptist, New York 4717
  • Soledad de María SantísimaAv. Gral. Mosconi 4119

Sports establishments

On the sporting level, we must highlight Club Atlético General Lamadrid, which currently participates in the Primera C (fourth division) of Argentine soccer. This club, at the end of the '90s played in the Primera B Metropolitana (third division), the stadium where Lamadrid plays home is the Enrique Sexto Stadium located in front of the Villa Devoto Penitentiary Complex. The Club Atlético Estudiantes also has its headquarters in the neighborhood, currently in the national First B, although its stadium is in Caseros, Tres de Febrero match.

Futsal (indoor soccer) is widely represented by neighborhood clubs. Kimberley participates in the First Division of the AFA Futsal Championship, General Lamadrid in the Second Division and El Talar in the Third Division of the AFA Futsal. The Social Cultural and Sports Club Pedro Lozano Library also belongs to the neighborhood, which is located at the intersection between Pedro Lozano and Gualeguaychu streets.

Other sports are practiced in Lamadrid such as baby soccer, women's soccer, handball, volleyball, boxing and skating.

Educational establishments

• Colegio Episcopal de Buenos Aires, located in José Cubas 3675
• Colegio Presencia de Villa Devoto, located in Gualeguaychú 3152
• Cardinal Copello, located in New York 3433
• Our Lady of Mercy Institute, located in Asunción 3780.
• San Rafael Institute, located in Simbron 5275.
• Home San Rafael, located in Pedro Calderón de la Barca 3056.
• English Cultural Academy Devoto, located in Av. Lincoln 4299.
• Villa Devoto School, located in Pedro Morán 4441.
• From the Miradorlocated in Fernández de Enciso 3565.
• Luis Pasteur, located in Navarro 4344.
• Antonio Devoto, located in Gualeguaychú 3909.
• San José Institute, located in Av. San Martín 6832.
• Antonio Devoto (Secundaria) located in Mercedes 4002.
• Antonio Devoto (Primaria) located in Av. Salvador María Del Carril 4180.
• Colegio FASTA San Vicente de Paúl, located in Gabriela Mistral 3757
• Instituto Mater Dolorosa, located in Mercedes 4734
• Instituto Nuestra Señora de Gracia y Buen Remedio, located in Vallejos 4746
• Abel College Yesterday -primary-, located in Avenida Salvador María del Carril 3650
• Reverend College Father Augustine Nores -primary-, located in Ramon Lista 5256.
• Colegio Delfín Gallo -primary-, located in Fernández de Enciso and San Nicolás.
• School of Commerce No. 11 Dr. José Peralta -secondary- located on Pedro Lozano 4250.
• Pedro Medrano School -primary-, located in New York 4713.
• Ricardo Rojas School -primary-, located in Gabriela Mistral 3376.
• School Creature -primary-, located in Solano López and San Martín.
• High School of Zamudio -primary-, located in José Cubas 4440.
• John O. Hall Flower and Gardening School José Cubas 3888, corner Bahía Blanca. Courses of Extension and University Technical Careers of the Faculty of Agronomy-UBA
• Common School N°6 State of Israel Located in Pedro Calderón de la Barca 3073

Media

The first newspaper in the neighborhood was called "Noticias Devotenses" and was founded by Lorenzo Blanco and Jorge L. Figueroa on November 5, 1932 with headquarters at Pedro Morán 4051. Its objective was to publicize the growth and culture of the neighborhood and it was distributed every Saturday by mail for a monthly subscription. of $1. The weekly was still active in 1948.

Devoto Magazine is the newspaper that has been published for the longest number of years in the area, published since October 1991. It is a tabloid with a circulation of more than 7,000 copies per month and about 64 pages printed in full color. He has been awarded three times by the Communication Secretariat of the GCBA and by the Communication Commission of the Buenos Aires Legislature. His website, Devoto Magazine, has also received three awards in recent years. Both media have belonged to the Neighborhood Media Registry of the City of Buenos Aires for more than 10 years. His Facebook Fan Page, which has more than 7000 followers, is https://www.facebook.com/devotomagazine/

Devoto has had a neighborhood frequency of 90.1 for more than 30 years. Its programming includes Las Vivencias del Pibe, La Isla de los Monos, Devotos del Cine, El Show del Medio and De Arco a Arco.

The Villa Devoto portal is the only digital media dedicated exclusively to the residents of the Villa Devoto neighborhood. It provides real-time the latest neighborhood news, cultural notes, activities, events and the most complete commercial guide. It currently receives an average of 25,000 visits per month, thus becoming the most consulted neighborhood media. In addition, it has a presence on three social networks: Facebook (+12,000 fans) Twitter (+900) Instagram (+950). Visit www.envilladevoto.com, All the information about Villa Devoto in one place.

Scout groups

• Scout Group Nro 253 Immaculate Conception (José Cubas 3599) (https://goo.gl/maps/NuTD81Hwns32)
• Scout Group Nro 254 San Antonio De Padua (Av. Lincoln 3701) (https://goo.gl/maps/4gciiV3aEo62)
• Scout Group Nro 330 Soledad De María (Av. Mosconi 4119) (https://goo.gl/maps/pxKMd3LMseK2)
• Scout Group Nro 738 Torre Fuerte (Nogoya 4050) (https://goo.gl/maps/PQWwUrAG8aN2)
• Scout Group Nro 193 San Rafael Arcángel (J. Pedro Varela 5272) (https://goo.gl/maps/EA8X2tnShjn)

Previously, the Arenales Scout Group operated in the neighborhood, which was the first Scout Group that existed in the area. The original name was General Arenales Boy Scout Company, under the direction of Gabriel Morel replaced to complete the mandate by Alejandro Rochaix (president of the Neighborhood Association).

Looking for larger places, they moved to Chivilcoy and Pedro Moran, in 1920 to 4451 Fernández Enciso Street, until later in 1928 to the property located on Nueva York Street almost on the corner of Llavallol, in which a wooden box was built. large English style, which had been one of the first homes in the area, in the rest of the land a sports field was set up, in which scout activity was carried out and athletics were practiced. Given the growth of our neighborhood and given that a school was going to be installed and built in that place (Cardenal Copello), they moved to a new property. - Starting in 1937, the General Arenales Scout Group, after celebrating with the Management of the Railway from Buenos Aires to the Pacific, a lease contract, “For the space of land, located in the Villa Devoto area, in this Capital, which has the shape of a triangle on the streets Capital, current Chivilcoy and Río de Janeiro, current Navarro opposite in front of the tracks of the Buenos Aires to the Pacific Railway (current San Martín Line).”

In 1982, Ferrocarriles Argentinos, due to the restructuring of the company, began on July 27, 1982 in the Federal Justice, Eviction Trial of the General Arenales Company of Argentine Boys Scouts of Villa Devoto" which continued to be tenant of the property, of the two fractions that she continued to occupy. The group's leadership was able to delay the judicial demand over time and years. - The efforts made managed to postpone judicial continuity, and at other times paralyze the processing. On another occasion, the possibility of its purchase was glimpsed but ultimately it did not materialize. In the meantime, the trial continued its processing, with all the stages of response and demand, evidence and reports to official organizations as recorded in the Judicial file. The group, at its own expense, carried out a study of the property title, to verify the claimed ownership.-

In May 1986, a ruling was handed down, which gave rise to the lawsuit filed by Ferrocarriles Argentinos, against the General Arenales Company of Argentine Boys Scouts of Villa Devoto – today Agrupación Gral. Arenales – for eviction. - With costs. - The ruling was confirmed by Chamber I of the Federal Civil and Commercial Court of Appeals, on September 23, 1986. From that moment on, the cycle of the Gral. Arenales Group ended, and it was donated to other groups, the valuable material that was counted.

Others

• Dr. Hospital. Abel Zubizarreta in front of Plaza Arenales on the street New York