La Boca-Buenos Aires | Multicoloured and Storied Corner of Argentina.

La Boca is a very famous neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, a multicoloured and storied corner of Argentina extremely rich in culture, history, art, traditions, folklore, a place which represents with its strong identity, characterful and charismatic spirit and a deep soul marked by unique historic episodes and chronological stages a relevant symbol of that marvellous country elevated as one of the most interesting and captivating areas of that splendid Latin American city.

That name which probably many times you heard is a Hispanic word which translated means mouth but rethinking to something else one of the first things that springs to mind is the famed and prestigious Football Club Atlético Boca Juniors called by fans and all people fond of that popular sport simply Boca, that legendary Sporting Institution among the most famous and titled in the world which apart its numerous triumphs has launched in the International soccer scene acclaimed champions such as Diego Armando Maradona, Juan Román Riquelme, Carlos Tevez and Walter Samuel among others.

That word which gave that popular Club its denomination is taken from that fascinating Barrio as is identified an urban borough or a metropolitan area in Spanish language, La Boca a huge district of over 50,000 inhabitants situated on the shore of the Riachuelo river which divides in two sections that territory of the Argentinian Capital, one called Ribera del Riachuelo corresponding to the bank of that waterway and the other is named Dársena Sur Portuaria consisting in the southern side of the harbour.

To have a more detailed idea about its geographicic position, it is situated north of the big district of Avellaneda separated by a bridge close to the popular boroughs of Parque Patricios and Caballito and located east and south of the famed and trendy neighbourhoods of Palermo and Recoleta established along the busy Calle Brandsen reaching the Dock Sud, the southern port facing the iconic Rio de la Plata river.

In Buenos Aires apart those mentioned areas there many other interesting "barrios" all with many things to discover such as San Telmo, Montserrat, Puerto Madero, Belgrano, Retiro, Almagro, Balvanera, Boedo, San Nicolás and many others.

The ideal way is to discover that beautiful city, neighbourhood by neighbourhood is an operation pretty long and difficult due to to the large size of that big metropolis but if you are planning a stay with a good number of days available for a stay there it is really exciting because you will discover under the skies of that immense city a mine of treasures.

All them have something to narrate many beautiful things and stories born and arouse in their boundaries, they are packed by great curiosities, very interesting anecdotes happened in streets,  old taverns, cafes and restaurants , environments which always had and have something to transmit with also episodes or ideas that someone created and launched  in a creative way becoming a trendy habit to follow or a great inspiration taken as future example to emulate.

For that they conserved a defined cultural identity living the present but rooted in something of iconic happened in their urban realities in the past and La Boca in its kind has and boasts with pride all those aspects.

When I discovered that district, very lively, bustling, animated, picturesque, full of culture, historical events, distinctive traditions in a walk, I decided to return there other times because once was not enough and to learn more  about its numerous unmistakable contrasts, colours and special features it is great to return there once again without hesitations and with extreme pleasure.

La Boca is a district of Baires as the Argentinian  people calls the Capital in a sort of abbreviation you cannot miss when you are visiting that stunning metropolis because it is in its kind everything or almost everything. 

That neighbourhood is a sort of street theatre eternally alive anytime, constantly busy highlighted by the presence of multicoloured houses, magnificent shows of live Tango in the streets performed by superb dancers, talented musicians highlighting the scene with notorious folk and modern songs,  people sitting in animated bars and cafes having a cool drink or a warm aromaric coffee talking about every theme.

One of them is football lived in that country with extreme passion and many of those conversations have as special protagonist the hated rival, eternal sporting "enemy" of another emblematic Club of the capital playing in the legendary Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti Stadium , the Club Atlético River Plate also known as Los Milionarios, the Millionaires but also nicknamed
  "Las Gallinas" the Hens.

That district is often identified by many people in that but it boasts much more offering excellent restaurants, relevant historic monuments, it is an emblematic corner which inspired a large variety of film-makers, writers, poets, painters, architects and thinkers. 

Cradle of artists, creative and bohemian people with a presence of a mix of melodic sounds you can hear along its streets such as Tango, Milonga and Bolero and in addition unmistakable smells of a traditional rooted gastronomy.

With that word "smells" it is enough strolling the boundaries of La Boca and in the air you will notice Pesto Genovese smell coming from the windows of some houses which is not only generated by the desire to prepare that delicious and tastefully green sauce with fresh basil, peanuts, extra virgin olive oil and Parmesan cheese so famous in Genoa and Liguria in which that recipe was born but it is strongly rooted in the cultural and historic spirit of that neighbourhood which was populated since many years ago before and after the two world wars by a numerous colony of Genoese immigrants.
 

They took with them everything reminiscent La Superba, the Superb as is called that notorious Northern Italian city, former legendary Marine Republic and those exquisite Mediterranean  flavours part of the most traditional culinary art with that iconic gastronomic preparation was transmitted generation by generation in the classical and original style with some descendants continuing  still nowadays to do that as an usual habit totally rooted but in many cases also to keep a bond with their ancestors.

They also absorbed the tradition to prepare fresh and fragrant Focaccia, also called Fugazza another Genoese speciality served in some food shops and Kiosks of La Boca transported on the other side of the Atlantic and you will see and smell that as to be in a place of the Italian Riviera.

You will smell others typically Argentinian delights as that of the famed Asado, the notorious barbecue consisting in grilled tender beef alongside other kinds of meats and a further consisting in  the Mate, that typical caffeinated beverage made from the yerba mate, a rich infused national drink consumed anytime in the country.

The image of La Boca with its most significant highlights appears in brochures, posters, post cards , covers of tourist guides and books and  it is certainly a superb landmark of Buenos Aires and the Nation.

Well known are the notorious pictures immortalising the statues of famous characters such as Gardel, Maradona, Evita Peron and other figures placed on scenic balconies of coloured houses who represented or represent historic symbols who made the history in their kinds of that city and Argentina.

Al that was created to transmit a  multicoloured folk and characterful aspect of a special environment linked to strategies of marketing and tourist promotion but highly loved by photographers and constantly attracting a myriad of visitors and curious people.

La Boca is historically a very cosmopolitan district, many of its inhabitants apart the numerous with Genoese heritage have European descendants and someone despite not many continues to speak the language of the grand fathers.

Furthermore in the last decades, its multi-ethnic image increased much more with some groups of immigrants mainly coming from Bolivia, Peru, Uruguay and Paraguay who fixed their residence there looking for fortune in that metropolis but also populated by some North American and European citizens decided to live in that special place simply fascinated by that appealing air and distinguished lively atmosphere and all that gave that bustling site a more cosmopolitan profile also in the contemporary era.

You can consider that area a little world in a big globe which is that huge metropolis, a very captivating setting unique in its kind where it is like to watch a sort of movie but not at a Cinema, the main scene is urban, full of intensity and all runs facing your eyes and for that there is always the desire to stop and discover more and more.

That site never sleeps and in every corner there is always something different, endless surprises and another main feature of that big Barrio is the strong identity of its inhabitants who with extreme pride loved to be identified as Boquenses.

You can hear all that in some comments, including related to jokes and anecdotes from people born and bred in La Boca that they know everything of the Barrio and everyone living there, it is like to be member of an association, in some cases conpared as a state apart different of the rest of the other districts of the Argentinian Capital and all that in a different way started a long time ago.

Highly interesting is its history according to some hints and suppositions but nothing of officially recorded in specific historical maps  was a tiny populated settlement established in the 16th century by Pedro de Mendoza y Luján a Spanish conquistador, soldier and explorer from Guadix, Granada who also founded the city of Santa Maria de los Buenos Aires in 1536.

The first considerable development started in 1866 in a pretty empty,  gray , swampy and also pretty infamous area when the Ferrocarril Buenos Aires, the company which managed the Railways network of the city developed a branch of charges between the main Station and the Station Piers Brown situated in the local boundaries right along the mouth of the river.

 In a very short time in that period the city started to be highly populated, there were big colonies in major part Spaniards and Italians but also Germans, Jews ,British, French and Poles who settled in La Boca and in other areas corresponding to the current districts of Belgrano, Avellaneda, Balvanera, Almagro, Palermo, Banfield and Lanus among others.

A relevant detail that attracted those immigrants is that in those times and for some years the Boca de Riachuelo was the natural harbour of the Argentinian Capital, pretty active in trade and transports of goods  but due to several problems as sandbars and many difficulties to arrange the ships due to a limited space and the fast increasing development of the metropolis, the official port was moved to Puerto Madero in 1897.

Argentina in that period was a very rich country offering several opportunities of job and Buenos Aires was a centre in continuous expansion calling a multitude of people. The first big considerable group of Europeans also for linguistic advantages came from Spain concretely from the Northern community of Galicia but immediately after also from Italy and as previously mentioned with a large representation of Genoese citizens and that big group of Northern Italians established there the most numerous colony far from the Ligurian capital in the world. 

The Genoese well known to be a hard worker, creative and with a thousand of ideas with a particular talent to create businesses and strategies in particular in trade and commerce rooted in the genes took by skilled navigators and merchants of the glorious Marine Republic which based its fortune jealously conserving the revenue of its successful traffics continued to be alive in those immigrants who left an idelible cultural imprint in La Boca.

Many residents from that city started to be defined as Xeneizes a deformation of the eponymous term Genoese.  Zena means Genoa in Ligurian dialect and the translation of Zeneize with the letter Z pronunciated in a particular way with local influences was replaced by a X.

All the Zeneizes or Xeneixes descendants inherited  the art of trade, a feature which remained deeply present in their DNA  took by the ancestors conquering a prestigious fame which reached all the borders and ourskirts of the entire city.

That community continued to be very solid highlighted by a notable spirit of unity with strong links with the native motherland keeping constant contacts and relationships with the families still resident in Italy and including they founded in Buenos Aires famed Associations, Institutions, Clubs and including a newspaper.

 In 1876 La Boca which had gained importance and influence was highlighted by an episode more characterised by that people who founded  a separatist movement of political-election for the local self government on the management of the neighbourhood and harbour, a sort of party asking autonomy although there were also other more drastic and radical members  who strongly proposed the Independence.

Just six years later in 1882 those inhabitants declared the birth of the Republica de la Boca ,La Boca Republic and they decided to use as symbol the flag of Genoa with the hope and dream to create an independent territory on Argentinian soil.

The community including signed a formal document which was sent to the King of Italy Umberto I of Savoy informing him of the birth of that Constitution. The General Julio Argentino Roca with the President of the Republic of Argentina had to intervene personally to negotiate with those citizens forcing them to haul down that emblem and stopping with that desire of Independence.

Despite that they continued to speak the Genoese dialect and also to use the typical cuisine, it was a way to remember the far motherland on the other side of the Ocean, nostalgia but also a very marked identity to show with extreme pride.

The district was transformed in a second Ligurian city, a sort of Latin American replica of Genova Pré or Porta Principe two well known corners that Italian centre. Many former houses had the image of Christopher Columbus on their doors, the emblematic symbol Lanterna, the famous and iconic high Lighthouse of Genoa painted in some corners of the district and in the living rooms and kitchens were often frequent the pictures, depicting the Cathedral of San Lorenzo and the Porto Vecchio, the old harbour of Genoa.

Including later with the passion for football appeared photos of the Marassi  Luigi Ferraris, the historic stadium where started to play one of the oldest Italian Clubs the Genoa Cricket and Football Club founded in 1893.

La Boca was characterised to be a neighbourhood full of music, melodic sounds, very busy people cooking Trenette or Troffie al  Pesto, Focaccia Genovese, Farinata and Zuppa di Pesce all typical dishes from Liguria and it became year by year one of the most storied corner of Argentina well known at national scale.

The district continued to have a notable growth and in addition came other immigrants mainly from Andalusia, Basque Country and Extremadura in Spain but also from Greece, the former Yugoslavia and Poland and the result was the transformation in a pretty big multi-ethnic neighbourhood.

One of the main reasons of all that massive affluence was because in 1898 the Southern Railway Company bought the entire area and many workers or people who used the urban transport moved there to have a residence with a fast communication to the places where they worked but ufortunately that company ceased its activity and closed  30 years later in 1928 partially changing further desire of other citizens to move in the boundaries of La Boca.

Despite that with a notable settlement established since the late 19th century and much more enlarged in the first half of the 20th century that neighbourhood was in all its splendour an icon of a new Buenos Aires and it was a period in which the district already reached a population of approximately 42.000 inhabitants.

That neighbourhood also became a mine of superb talents with actors, poets, writers, musicians and composers and next to nearest quarter of San Telmo protagonist of events of great influence in the metropolitan cultural scene and in the rest Argentina with the elevation of the famous Tango played, danced, sang and later also performed by incredible talented dancers, singers and musicians who reached an extreme popularity.

Some of those artists became very famous as José Ceppi well known with the nickname of Aníbal Latino who in his books wrote many things about his beloved borough.

Another notorious character the painter Benito Quinquela Martin was an  emblem of that Barrio because he represented in many of his works scenes depicting the life in the streets and harbour of La Boca and in addition he was well known to be a charismatic character who highlighted a very active artistic movement.(If you are interested to know more I wrote a post about Gran Cafe Tortoni cradle of culture, art, music and literature of importance of the Argentinian Capital linked to that figure)
 

The name as previously mentioned means mouth and it derives from the confluence of the river Riachuelo forming an estuary in front of the Rio de la Plata but that is just one version and also that is great because the stories, opinions and suppositions are others.

A second one which is for many people is the certain and less remote is by an  old district of Genoa called Bocadesse which took with the local language and influences and pronunciation something similar to a sound as Boca´ aze since the times when that area of Buenos Aires was mainly populated in the 19th century by immigrants and sailors coming from that city.

You can start the visit from the emblematic Caminito , efinitely one of the main local highlights, anddistinctive symbol of La Boca. That picturesque and multicoloured artery is a sort of  open air street museum which in its kind wrote and narrated in many aspects relevant pages of the history of that captivating site.

Always packed by locals and tourists with Argentinian, Italian, Spanish and other South American restaurants offering delicious plates well known for its picuturesque houses built using wood and zinc, others erected with different materials and metals and extremely famous for their scenic painted facades with all the most bright attractive colours.

Many years ago before to have the current name that picturesque site was called Puntin, a word derived from the Genoese dialect which means little bridge and that popular boulevard with its history, atmosphere inspired many artists. One of them was Juan de Dios Filiberto who composed the famous Tango-song "Caminito" later performed by great figures as Carlos Gardel among others.

The current denomination is from the 50's for an initiative of the project manager who converted that legendary metropolitan hallway in a distinctive street-museum inspired by the works by the painter Benito Quinquela Martin who was a reason to rename that coloured and bustling passageway with the title of that famous Argentinian melody.

It was also certainly a way to change something in terms of cultural aspects, that denomination was a song produced by a notorious figure sang by a national idol  created to fall in love many people and it evoked the essence and spirit of a neighbourhood that along that urban emblem had developed something of historically important and it deserved as a sort of hymn to dedicate to that storied corner of Argentina.

All that was also a signal that Buenos Aires  continued to be a city full of inspirations, joie de vivre and with a great artistic desire to elevate itself as a reality with an international dimension after very positive times during the 30's and 40's with many characters linked to the national cultural sphere already known  in Europe.

From time to time, in some corners of that fascinating street you can listen that famous music work dedicated to that site with the voice of Gardel coming from the windows of some buildings and that is a very special and suggestive detail creating a special atmosphere attracting and bewitching in while the visitor who is walking along that notorious artistic urban stretch.

The local scene has as main protagonists those notorious captivating and enchanting painted  houses you can see nowadays which reached an International fame for their unique image responding to the traditional style created by some Italian immigrants who populated the district  giving that site a very artsy profile.

Due to that immense cultural value, those scenic buildings are subsidised by the State which ensures the scarce maintenance resources of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood who can not  preserve those structures in financial terms.

Many of them are true masterpieces named with significant titles among the most important and worth to be mentioned there are Herrero Boquense, Boca Blacksmith by  Marisa Balmaceda Krause, La Canción, The Song, La Sirga,The towpath and Elevando anclas, lifting anchors by Julio Vergottini, Regreso de la pesca, Coming back from fishing and Día del Trabajo,The Work day by Benito Quinquela Martín, Esperando la barca, Waiting for the boat by Roberto Juan Capurro, Las Tejedoras, the Weavers  by Luis Perlotti, Tango by Israel Hoffmann and La familia, The Family, by Nicasio Fernández among others.

It is very difficult to enumerate all, the list of those outstanding artistic works depicted on those structures is very long and each reflects art and expression of pure talent in cultural messages focused to transmit in a veiled philosophic or direct way for someone inspirations, feelings, sentiments and joie de vivre.

Some of those works are  based on pure interpretation but the major part of those representations have a very evident and strong meaning. Many of them are the live visual spirit of a cultural movement evidencing the pure aesthetic colours of life, others are much more eclectic with something linked to moods and specific situations with determined environment as main setting of a concrete scene but definitely in their kinds they are all superb masterpieces.

That place never lost its artistic charm, the cultural appeal of that icon is eternally alive than ever along that sort of urban monument and today you can admire couples performing Tango dance tango of high level talented street musicians playing a work by Astor Piazzolla and including there is also a traditional market with the chance to find paintings, clothes, pictures, frames, souvenirs and artistic items.

But La Boca is not only that, it also has other historic attractions and not as many people think it is simply linked to the Tango and those colourful houses along the legendary Caminito.

In Calle Olavarria a long street parallel to Calle Brandsen separated by two blocks called "Cuadras" similar to the apples of a city of the United States of America, at just 250,0 metres north of a scenic bend of the river Riachuelo crossing the constantly busy boulevard Avenida Almirante Brown  you can admire the Iglesia de San Juan Evangelista, the Church dedicated  to St. John the Evangelist.

That Religious building was erected in the late 19th century and it is a splendid replica of a pure Renaissance style with some architectural Romanesque details. It is a structure consisting in three naves with ionic columns and a high bell tower flanking it. It is in its kind is beautiful representation of Tuscan architecture in modern key with a splendid dome and  inside you can admire some excellent frescoes of Italian inspiration.


In that area in Avenida Don Pedro Mendoza at the civic number 1835 you can visit the Museo de las Bellas Artes de la Boca. the museum of fine arts which contains excellent work by several Argentinian artists of notable level among them a superb collection of works by Benito Quinquela Martin with some of his masterpieces from 1922 to 1967, beautiful figureheads by local artists, paintings of the late 19th century and sculptures by different Argentinian sculptors ranging from the late 19th century to the half of the 20th century.


On the same boulevard at the civic number 1821 facing the Riachuelo river you can see the Teatro de la Ribera, The Ribera Theatre  Inaugurated on 27th October 1971 and very famous for its varied and very interesting cultural calendar.

 In the entrance hall you can admire eight murales painted by Quinquiela Martin depicting the lie of the district since 2001 it hosts the Espacio Fotografico, an area devoted to Photography Exhibitions managed by a famed professional photographer Juan Travnik hosting expositions by national and international photographers.


The Theatre has a capacity of 643 spectators and since 2009 when the Tango was declared patrimony by UNESCO it became the seat of famed shows and many proposals linked to that kind of art.

Continuing along that avenue you can admire near the river the famous and legendary Vapor de la Carrera, a big historic ship which nowadays hosts some establishments as restaurants and shops.

That section of the river as previously mentioned is subdivided in two sections, one called Darsena Sur Portuaria corresponding to the sector of the anchorage of the harbour of the south basin developed along the current Autovia Buenos Aires-La Plata connected by a network of canals and basins to the Darsena Norte along Avenida Juana Manuela Gorriti. a long avenue which flanks the course of that waterway. 

The other is called Ribera de Riachuelo, the bank of the river which has represented for a long time the mercantile fluvial hub during the first economic boom and focal point for the the main trade activities by water od La Boca.

Very close to Avenida Almirante Brown in Calle Suarez 396 do not miss a stop at Rancho Banchero, a renowned and iconic restaurant considered a legend offering a delicious cuisine.

Founded in 1932 by Juan Banchero replacing a well known bakery opened in 1883 by his father Agostino Banchero, a Genoese immigrant in a short time that establishment was awarded with the title of Emperor of the Fugazza, the famous focaccia of Genoa for the superb quality of that  speciality made as in the motherland Liguria and one of the icons was that with cheese.

 In the first period in that establishment were served the typical Genoese gastronomic plates but later it started to delight the clients also with the traditional and famous Neapolitan pizza calling more customers who loved that other Italian delight.
  
It was also nicknmaned Casa de los Artistas, the House of the Artists because it was frequented by important and prominent figures linked to highest artistic spheres of the Capital with frequent customers as Benito Quinquela Martin, Tita Merello, Luis Sandrini, Juan de Dios Filiberto and later it became an usual destination of actors, contemporary artists, politicians, footballers and other sports and entertainment stars.

Once inside apart to be delighted by a superb cuisine you can see on the walls several pictures of notorious characters who often sat at its tables, different kinds of honours, achievements andsome paintings of the Riachuelo river by a famed painter called Abelleyra Cabral.

In proximity of the long street Calle Wenceslao Villafane which leads to the Darsena Sur in an intersection of Avenida Almirante Brown and flanking in a point Avenida Benito Galdos  you can admire a building called Casa Amarilla, the yellow house situated in Avenida Martin Garcia.

That construction is well known because it  was the residence since 1813 of an Irish Admiral called William Brown, very famous in Argentina because he created and organised the first former Argentinian Navy.

 Considered a national hero and elevated as the  father of the millitart navy of the Nation that figure
participated with success to the famous war of Independence against Spain between 1810 and 1818 and later between 1825 and 1928  against another against Brazil. 

That huge house highlighted by a big central body flanked by two wings with gray large windows inserted in its layout was erected on a large irregular rectangular plan and  today it houses some Institutions linked to the Marine and Argentinian navigation.

 

You can not miss to take a look in a picturesque place called La Vuelta de Rocha, the tour of the rock , a special point in which the Riachuelo river forms a wide bend and a huge estuary. In the past it was a place to moore boats  and point of departure sailing across the river Rio de la Plata linking Buenos Aires to Montevideo the capital of Uruguay.(I wrote a post about that other splendid South American Capital in the case you are interested).

 If you want to see from another perspective that scenic curve I suggest you to walk approximately 400/450 metres towards south and once reached the street Calle California, on that artery you can have another spectacular image of that waterway admiring how its course is narrower but also very close where immediately after starts that ample bend forming a sort of natural bay.

Another very good view point to admire La Vuelta de Rocha is in Calle Alfredo Palacios and in that concrete street you are practically in the middle of that huge river twist facing a majestic civil construction, the .impressive bridge Puente Nicolás Avellaneda.

That superb construction was built in the early 20th century to connect the shores of the river Riachuelo giving an immediate access to the traffic coming from the Dock Sud and directly connecting the area by the boulevard Avenida Santiago Ponce linking the district of Avellaneda to that of La Boca.  

It can be raised by long escalators and walking along two pedestrian sides enjoying great panoramic views of the city and the river Rio de la Plata. At sunset you will be delighted by a spectacular view and that image with the sun rays falling in that place generating great reflections and stunning colours on the waters of the river is absolutely stunning.

That emblematic bridge was with Caminito a great source of inspiration for the painter Quinquela Martin who spent many hours there admiring the horizon and Buenos Aires from that concrete point and after those sights extremely inspiring he made several works depicting La Boca from that perspective.


The bustling Calle Necochea is a place highlighted by the most vibrant nightlife, it is a pretty long street  with several lively bars and restaurants and it is very close to the legendary Stadium Alberto Jacinto Armando alias La Bombonera the Stadium, temple and iconic stronghold of one of the most celebrated Entities in the history of the International football, the Club Atletico Boca Juniors which is in its kind a sort of sacred site for  the Xeneize  fans also called Bosteros.

The glorious Club Headquarter of that Sporting Institution is  located in Calle Brandsen at the civic number 805. Boca Juniors is one of the major Clubs of the country, South America and in the World for its numerous successes and prestigious trophies conquered all around the world with several players who wrote important historic pages of that sport and many fans all around Argentina but also in many foreign countries.

The stadium holds over 57,000 spectators and the legendary nickname of the complex La Bombonera is pretty peculiar and that nickname is so famous but many people do not know why that name which means bonbons box and the origin of all that arouse in occasion of the project led by the architect Victor Sulcic with a curious story starring that man during the design development stage.

In occasion of his birthday, a friend gave Mr. Sulcic a box of bonbons and the architect began to check and study the shape of it. During some meetings with the other Engineer Mr. Delpini and other participants linked to the development Sulcic always had with him that box which more or less had the same shape of the stadium you can see today.

In those meetings started some conversations and some comments because the draws by Sulcic surprised the colleagues who started to stay "Es como una "bombonera", it is like a bombon box,

" quieres construir an  estadio como una bombonera ?"  do you want a stadium as a Bombonera? The work continued and ended with that silhouette and since then even before the construction for all people was and is the emblematic La Bombonera.

According to the history of Boca Juniors the Institution was founded by five young men residents in that district in 1905 and they were Juan and Teodoro Farenga, Alfredo Scarpatti, Esteban Baglietto and Pedro Santiago Sana.

The name was naturally taken from the neighbourhood and about Juniors there are different versions and suppositions about that choice, I heard some, one is linked to the age of the founders, all them very young, and another one because the club was new in the district.

There is a further which tells that denomination was to give more resonance because simply the word Boca was for someone limited and they wanted something of exotic to add in contrast to the reputation of difficult neighbourhood which had won the district in the early 20th century.

Regarding the social colours, yellow and blue, also that choice has a very special story. At the beginning of the history of the Club they were not the current colours and also that is particularly curious with a series of storied episodes.

Originally the shirts were white with black vertical rods similar  to those of other famous clubs such as Juventus, Newcastle or Partizan Belgrade and later they were replaced with a light blue compared to of Lazio, Manchester City or Naples.

For many people those new colours were very standard and not much attractive, other considered them boring and with a poor identity and also too usual. The decision was to return  to the black and white but always looking for something of trendy and innovative.

In 1907 a man called Juan Brichetto, a member of the Club had an idea and talking to other people of that Sporting Institution informed that if they were tired of those colours and there were not ideas he had one consisting to go to Buenos Aires port and the first foreign boat coming inside the harbour looking at the colours of the flag of the first ship reaching the quays they could represent the new shirt of the Club.

All people accepted that peculiar idea and once at the port the first vessel which appeared was the Drottning Sophia, a Swedish boat and the colours of Swedish flag as you know are blue and yellow.

Since then they became the official colours of Boca Juniors and from that event there is also a little piece of Sweden in the history and creation of one of the most prestigious clubs of Latin America and of the World.

If you are planning to visit Buenos Aires, a more than beautiful city that captivating neighbourhood called La Boca is a must, lively, artistic, multicoloured, picturesque, full of energy day and night. I inserted below some links with some accommodations in that area in the case  you will plan a trip there.

That district is an emblematic landmark of that metropolis with a lot of things to narrate, a multicoloured storied corner of Argentina simply unique in its kind and with that visit you will have a great picture in your memories albums and one of the best experiences of your trips.

Francesco Mari

Recommended Hotels in the area 

Hotel Boca Juniors 
Dante Boutique Hotel (at San Telmo)
Ribera Sur Hotel (at San Telmo)
Thelmo Hotel Boutique (at San Telmo)
Hotel Babel (at San Telmo)

Note ; San Telmo district is close to La Boca

Useful links

 www.laboca.org
www.hotelbocajuniors.com
www.danteboutiquehotel.com
www.riberasurhotel.com.ar
/www.telmho-hotel.com.ar
www.hotelbabel.com.ar

www.welcomeargentina.com

 www.buenosairesturismo.com.ar

www.ohbuenosaires.com 

 www.latidobuenosaires.com

 www.laboca.org

 www.easybuenosairescity.com

  www.youtube.com