Azul, Buenos Aires Province

Azul is the capital of Partido Azul in the center of the province of Buenos Aires in Argentina. It is located 299 km southwest of Buenos Aires, and had, according to the census INDEC in 2001, 63,000 inhabitants.

History

The city was founded on 16 December 1832 after the Governor Juan Manuel de Rosas had ordered the construction of a fort named San Serapio Martir del Arroyo Azul as protection against the native Indians. By granting land to interested parties, the municipality developed so that 1895 she was formally declared by the authorities of the province to the city.

On January 19, 1974 at the time of the presidency of Juan Perón, the army barracks were attacked on the outskirts of the city by the People's Revolutionary Army of the extreme left (ERP). This was the hitherto strongest attack on the state power in Argentina and should the procurement of arms and ammunition used. In the attack, three soldiers were killed, a soldier was taken hostage and later executed by the attackers.

Structures

The Cathedral of Azul, Nuestra Señora del Rosario, was consecrated in 1906.

The Argentine architect Francisco Salomone designed both the entrance to the main cemetery of the city as well as the main building of the slaughterhouse in the Art Deco style. This building from the late 1930s are among the first examples of modern architecture in rural Argentine.

Education and Arts

The National University of the Middle Buenos Aires maintains Azul in the departments of agriculture and of Law.

The Teatro Español in 1897 is the most important of the Pampas Region. In 1992, this occurred on the ballet of the Bolshoi Theatre.

In 2007, Azul was appointed by UNESCO to Cervantesstadt as the Casa Ronco houses about 400 copies of editions of Don Quixote by Cervantes. The collection was gathered by the lawyers Bartolomé Ronco (1881-1952) and contains, among other things, a print from the year in 1697.

Also since 2007 Azul is the scene of Miguel de Cervantes Festival.

Garrison

In Azul are the Panzerregimernt No. 10 ( regimento de Caballeria de Tanques ) and a motorized artillery department of the Argentine armed forces stationed.