La Plata (Spanish pronunciation: [la ˈplata]) is the capital city of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. According to the 2022 census, the Partido has a population of 772,618 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 938,287 inhabitants. It is located 9 kilometers (6 miles) inland from the southern shore of the Río de la Plata estuary.
La Plata was planned and developed to serve as the provincial capital after the city of Buenos Aires was federalized in 1880. It was officially founded by Governor Dardo Rocha on 19 November 1882. Its construction is documented in photographs by Tomás Bradley Sutton. La Plata was briefly known as Ciudad Eva Perón (Eva Perón City) between 1952 and 1955.
After La Plata was designated the provincial capital, Rocha was placed in charge of creating the city. He hired urban planner Pedro Benoit, who designed a city layout based on a rationalist conception of urban centers. The city has the shape of a square with a central park and two main diagonal avenues, north to south and east to west. There are numerous other shorter diagonal streets. This design is copied in a self-similar manner in small blocks of six by six blocks in length. For every six blocks, there is a small park or square. Other than the diagonal streets, all streets are on a rectangular grid and are numbered consecutively. Thus, La Plata is nicknamed "la ciudad de las diagonales" (city of diagonals). It is also called "la ciudad de los tilos" (city of linden trees), because of the large number of linden trees lining the many streets and squares. The linden tree is one of a number of deciduous Northern Hemisphere tree species which dominate La Plata's parks and streets; ash, horsechestnut, plane, sweetgum and tulip tree are among the other examples. Palms and subtropical broadleaf evergreen trees thrive but are comparatively infrequent.
The city design and its buildings are noted to possess strong Freemason symbolism because of both Rocha and Benoit being freemasons.
The designs for the government buildings were chosen in an international architectural competition. Thus, the Governor Palace was designed by Italians, the City Hall by Germans, etc. Electric street lighting was installed in 1884 and was the first of its kind in Latin America.
The neo-Gothic cathedral of La Plata is the largest church in Argentina. It is located on the central park, Plaza Moreno, and is the 58th tallest church in the world.
The Teatro Argentino de La Plata is one of the most important opera houses in Argentina, second to the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. The construction was funded by the first inhabitants of La Plata, but as maintenance was very expensive it was later donated to the Province of Buenos Aires. On 18 October 1977, the building was almost completely destroyed by a fire. This has been noted as one of the largest losses to La Plata's historical heritage. It was later replaced by a new building, which houses the theatre's orchestra, choir and ballet, boasting several halls.
The Curutchet House is one of the two buildings by Le Corbusier built in the Americas.
The University of La Plata was founded in 1897 and nationalized in 1905. It is well known for its observatory and natural history museum. Ernesto Sabato graduated in physics at this university; he went on to teach at the Sorbonne and the MIT before becoming a famed novelist. Doctor René Favaloro was another famous alumnus. During its early years, the university attracted a number of intellectuals from the Spanish-speaking world, such as Dominican Pedro Henríquez Ureña.
San Ponciano church is on the corner of 48th and 5th streets. It was the first chapel in La Plata. Pedro Benoit drew up the plans for the church. It was inaugurated on 19 November 1883, the first anniversary of the foundation of the city. Its neo-Gothic style has been well-maintained, and the inner paintings restored. Then-governor Rocha called it "San Ponciano", in memory of his son Ponciano and in honor of Pope Pontian. Inside the church is the "Virgen de Luján" niche, moved there in 1904.
Under Alvear's administration (1922–1928), Enrique Mosconi, the president of the state oil company Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales, created the La Plata distillery, at the time the tenth largest in the world.
On 10 December 1945, in the Parish church of St. Francis of Assisi in this city, Juan Domingo Perón and Eva Duarte were married.
In 1952, the city was renamed Ciudad Eva Perón; its original name was restored in 1955.
In March 1976, the Argentine military seized power following a coup d'état, which involved the disappearance of a number of students from La Plata. The military junta had implemented the National Reorganization Process, a set of policies used by the regime to destroy left-wing guerrilla forces and oppress resistance to its rule. The process included kidnappings, torture and murder. Meanwhile, the Montoneros, a leftist guerilla group, responded violently to the junta and its actions as they enlisted other Argentines to join their campaign against the regime. Those enlisted included young, left-wing, politically active students from the organization named the Unión de Estudiantes Secundarios (UES) (Union of High School Students) of La Plata. UES was committed to achieving school reforms and other political reforms through demonstrations and protests that irked the ruling regime. Many of these students were kidnapped and killed (many remain desaparecidos) as part of the state's terrorism during the dictatorship.
In October 1998, UNESCO approved the city's bid for recognition as a World Heritage site. Approval is pending due to objections about maintaining architectural and landscape features during recent decades, which in the opinion of some specialists, has damaged the original design and contextual aesthetics.
The city is home to two first division football teams: Estudiantes de La Plata and Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata.
Estudiantes de La Plata is the most successful club in the city, having won seven national tournaments, four Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup against the Manchester United in 1968. Past players include important Argentine players such as Osvaldo Zubeldía, Carlos Bilardo, Alejandro Sabella, Juan Ramón and Juan Sebastián Verón. Estudiantes has had a significant influence on the Argentine National Team, mainly through Bilardo in the 1986 World Cup. Its successes and its style of play, normally called bilardismo, have influenced the national style of football.
Gimnasia de La Plata, founded in 1887, has not won titles in the professional era.