Plaza del Congreso

Colonial-era businessman Pedro Lorea purchased a 2 hectare (5 acre) lot in the Piety Market Hollow west of the growing hamlet of Buenos Aires in 1782.

A flour mill and wholesale market opened in the surroundings and a water tower was installed in the center of the plaza, which became a landscaped public park.

Local sculptor Juan Eugenio Boverie graced the plaza's new promenade in 1896 with El Perdón (a sculpture relocated to the westside Avellaneda Park in 1991).

Perhaps the most memorable early contribution was the 1907 purchase of one of the few casts of the iconic The Thinker French sculptor Auguste Rodin made before he destroyed the mold.

The Municipal Parks Director, French Argentine urbanist Charles Thays, envisioned a 3 hectare (7.5 acre) space divided crosswise by Montevideo Street and parallel to the Avenida de Mayo (May Avenue).

His design was also approved because it required a minimal demolition of existing real estate, as it did not envisage lateral and rear plazas, as urbanist Joseph Bouvard had proposed.

Its inaugural coincided with the completion of numerous other parks, avenues and redevelopments (several of the most important designed by Thays) ahead of the May 25, 1910 centennial of the May Revolution, the Buenos Aires assembly whose declaration led to Independence from the Spanish Empire in 1816.

The monument is also known for its adjoining terraced fountain and its bronze Neptunes, the scene of light shows and the accompanying music by George Gershwin and Jacques Offenbach, early in the 20th century.

Buenos Aires Mayor and presidential candidate Fernando de la Rúa was on hand to unveil a nearby monument to his political mentor, the late centrist UCR leader Ricardo Balbín, in 1999.

Commissioned by Museums Director Eduardo Schiaffino for the city in 1907, he and Rodin had envisaged its placement on a pedestal on the grand steps in front of Congress – a plan which never materialized.

The work of the brothers Máximo and José Fioravanti, the structure was placed on the north side of Plaza Lorea on October 2, 1935; it was moved to its present location on May 18, 1944.

Mariano Moreno (1778 – 1811) was a lawyer, journalist and politician who played a decisive role in the May Revolution that led to the declaration of independence of Argentina from Spain.