National Flag Memorial
Monumental 1957 complex on the Paraná with a 70-metre tower, crypt and flag gallery.
The memorial marks the spot on the Paraná where Manuel Belgrano first raised the Argentine flag in February 1812. Competitions for a monument ran from the 1890s, but the scheme finally built was that of the architects Ángel Guido and Alejandro Bustillo, with sculpture by José Fioravanti, Alfredo Bigatti and Eduardo Barnes. Work began in 1943 and the complex was inaugurated on 20 June 1957, the anniversary of Belgrano's death. Much of the stonework came from Andean quarries.
The ensemble covers about ten thousand square metres and falls into three parts. A tower seventy metres high, shaped like the prow of a ship, recalls the May Revolution of 1810 and holds Belgrano's crypt at its base; a lift carries visitors to a viewing gallery near the top. The Patio Cívico, used for open-air ceremonies, stands for the organisation of the state, while the Propileo Triunfal closes the composition and shelters the Gallery of Honour of the Flags of the Americas.
Highlights
- Seventy-metre prow-shaped tower with a public viewing gallery
- Crypt of Manuel Belgrano beneath the tower
- Gallery of Honour displaying the flags of the American states
- Sculpture by José Fioravanti, Alfredo Bigatti and Eduardo Barnes
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