Casa Rosada
The baby-pink paint was a political recipe: mix the Federalists' red with the Unitarians' white, and maybe stop a civil war.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Buenos Aires offline.
Argentina's executive seat since Bartolomé Mitre enlisted a colonial fort's annex in the 1860s. The site on Plaza de Mayo's eastern edge has been the nerve center of government since a fort stood here in 1594 — originally on the Río de la Plata shoreline. A museum inside holds objects from former presidents, and the building carries National Historic Monument status.
What to look for
- The Neoclassical portico President Rivadavia added in 1825 — the earliest recorded architectural addition to the building's entrance
- Domingo Sarmiento's wrought-iron grillwork and interior patios, added when he beautified what had been a drab administrative annex
- The baby-pink color itself — baby pink, not red, not white, the visible residue of a 19th-century political compromise
The building houses a museum focused on former presidents — verify admission and access hours before visiting. The president's actual residence is in Olivos, so the building is a working government office.
Casa Rosada is one of 34 sights worth the detour in Buenos Aires, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Buenos Aires pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Buenos Aires
- Mas Monumental Stadium85,018 seats on reclaimed Río de la Plata marshland — the largest stadium in South America, and the ground where a World Cup Final was played.
- La BomboneraThat chocolate-box shape doesn't just look strange — the unusual design gives the bowl its famously excellent acoustics.
- Teatro ColónAcoustics expert Leo Beranek surveyed leading international opera and orchestra directors and ranked this hall the world's best room for opera — not a slogan, a measured result.
- Oscar and Juan Gálvez Race TrackF1 cars once screamed through the third corner here at 305 km/h, flat out for 40 straight seconds — and the grandstands put you right on top of it.
- Palacio BaroloA 1923 tower mapped floor by floor onto Dante's Divine Comedy — hell at the base, purgatory in the middle, heaven at the top.
- Plaza de MayoEvery defining moment in Argentine political life — from the May Revolution to the country's largest street protests — has played out on this one square.