Avenida Corrientes in Buenos Aires can be described as the Argentinian Broadway. Along this street you can find famous pizza shops and cafes as well as theatre productions, movie cinemas, high-class hotels and so much more, all of which lead up to the famous obelisk.

The obelisk was built in 1936 to acknowledge the 400th anniversary of the first founding of the city. The memorial has inscriptions on all four sides relating to the first and second foundations, the president at the time of construction and important political decisions. From the obelisk, almost all subway lines have a stop.

It is the most popular tourist location in the entire city and is used for several events throughout the years. Recently, the opening ceremony of the 2018 Junior Olympics were held in the center of the city at the obelisk. A trapeze artist walked down the side of the building carrying the Argentinian flag, and beautiful lights from fireworks lit up the sky around the memorial.

Every Christmas night the obelisk is decorated with lights and lit up as if it were a tree to the point where it has a star at the top. In the past, it has also been painted to celebrate foreign relations with Germany and represent works of famous artists.

Places to visit while walking along Avenida Corrientes include:

Pizza shops

Los Inmortales Pizzeria started off as a coffee shop and later became a pizza place in honor of the original Italian founders. It has a central location in Corrientes and maintains the Italian style from 1952.

Guerrin Pizzeria was founded in 1932 and serves Argentinian-style pizza along with their famous empanadas. The atmosphere is relaxed, making it a great place to eat with friends on a night out.

Cafés

Café la Paz was founded in the 1940s. It was originally for teenagers and novelists to have a place to come together and combine their musical, movie and literary talents. In the 1960s, it became a meeting place to discuss and confront polemic ideas. For a short while, it became a bar and has now returned to a café for anyone to sip some coffee in a historical place.

La Giralda Cafeteria opened in 1930 and is famous for its Spanish-style hot chocolate and churros. This place is perfect for anyone who doesn’t enjoy coffee.

El Gato Negro, or in English, the Black Cat, is one of the oldest cafés in Buenos Aires and opened in 1927. The food is not very good, but the coffee is amazing. The black cat is a major theme throughout the decor of the café, so keep your eyes open for them while enjoying teatime.

Paseo la Plaza

This plaza area is filled with amazing restaurants, cafés and movie theaters. It won the attention of investors and customers in the 1980s and is owned by The Plaza Group, which is a big theater company. It has an entrance off Corrientes, filling the entire 1600 address block area, like a mall.

Bookstores

Every other shop along this famous avenue is a bookstore with anything you can imagine. From books like the “Mafalda” comics to Stephen King and Borges, a famous Argentinian author, it is book heaven for those endless readers. Hernández Librería and Liberarte are to name a few known authors.

Avenida Corrientes also connects to Florida Street, which is a major outlet shopping center with a market in the middle and stores on the outside. There are Cines, which are movie theaters and tourist shops.

The Broadway theater for plays and musicals also sits along Corrientes, and on the sidewalk, there are stars with names of Argentine actors and actresses, mimicking the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

With so much to do and see, making a trip to Avenida Corrientes while in Buenos Aires is not a waste of time.