Travel Guide Olivos

Olivos belongs to the municipality of Vicente López Partido in the province of Buenos Aires. This small residential barrio, 22 km from Buenos Aires, is famous for being the site of the President's official residence (commonly known as the Quinta Presidencial de Olivos). It was Domingo de Acassuso, in 1720, who, seduced by the banks of the Río de la Plata, decided to settle there and cultivate olive trees. Fifty years later, the place was officially named Olivos on the exact date of February 19, 1770. The inauguration in 1863 of the local railway station, one of the first in Argentina, began to attract porteños seeking tranquillity a few kilometres from the booming capital. In the 1920s, the district was modernized, beautified and the city's streets paved. Olivos is becoming more and more attractive and practical for workers travelling to the capital on a daily basis. The opening of National Highway 9 in the mid-1930s, west of the city, facilitated the transfer between the two cities. The city became the centre of national attention in 1941 when, after the death of Carlos Villate Olaguer (descendant of Viceroy Olaguer y Feliú who bought the land of Olivos at the end of the 18th century), a 35 hectare section of the family's local land was transferred to the Argentine government. The reason? They were going to build the future official residence of the president. Young, single and childless, Carlos Villate Olaguer suffered from an illness that took him away at the age of 46. In his will, he expresses his desire to donate his residence to the government. Designed by the architect Prilidiano Pueyrredón, Quinta de Olivos is inspired by Baroque and Neo-Gothic art and has welcomed no less than fifteen presidential families since its inauguration in 1854.