La BocaPersonal travel impressions in stories and pictures from La Boca, Argentina. Click on the pictures to enlarge, send as a free e-card, or download for personal use. You can locate La Boca and navigate the world using Google Earth Show on map
S 34° 38.363
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After the first settlers of French Basque origin, La Boca soon grew to become an Italian district of Buenos Aires. This used to be the area where Italian immigrants arrived, and settled in the poorest conditions. They actually built their houses of leftover corrugated iron and other waste found in the nearby harbour and industry on the Riachuelo river. In order to make their neighbourhood more attractive, they decided to paint their houses in bright colours.
Obviously, also the paint used actually was leftover paint from boats - hence the many different colours that can be seen. The area has become one of the prime tourist destinations in the city of Buenos Aires, and as such feels less authentic than it must have been. Souvenir shops and restaurants strive for customer's attention and tourist dollars. Nevertheless, it does deserve a visit because of the optimism that the colours provoke - contrasting to the difficult conditions in which the area has developed.
If you think the area is like an open-air museum, well, not entirely so, as people still inhabit the houses. Now, in the Caminito street you can also see artists painting and dancers performing tango. The world-famous Boca Juniors soccer team, club of star Maradona, actually comes from this neighbourhood. The area is an easy bus ride from the city centre.
