The favorite place of residents of Buenos Aires is on Republic Square in the San Nicolás neighborhood. Here football fans gather to celebrate the victory or discuss the defeat of their favorite team, street musicians and artists perform, rallies and demonstrations are held and citywide events take place. And all these thanks to the obelisk installed here, which has become a place of attraction for citizens.

The monument appeared in the center of Republic Square in May 1936 – right in the same place where the first national flag was once set. The obelisk was erected on the occasion of the four hundredth anniversary of the founding of Buenos Aires. The height of the monument is 67.5 meters and its foundation area is 49 square meters. There are 4 windows at the top, which can be reached by 206 steps. The obelisk was designed by Alberto Prebisch, and its construction took only a month.

At first, the people of Buenos Aires were not delighted with the new attraction. The obelisk was discussed and criticized so actively and strongly that at some point they even wanted to dismantle it. But several years passed: the citizens got used to the majestic monument, and their hearts melted completely. Today it is a cult place – all important events in the city and country take place near it.

Unfortunately, there is always a fly in the ointment. Thus, over the course of several decades of its existence, the obelisk has repeatedly fallen victim to vandalism, especially ideological. The most resonant case occurred in the 1980s when a group of political activists broke into the monument and spilled paint from its windows. Since then, the obelisk has been surrounded by a fence that protects it from assassination attempts.

Another interesting case occurred a few years earlier. When Isabel Martínez de Perón was in power, the obelisk was officially marked with an ambiguous slogan: «Silence is health». The government claimed that the words were directed against noisy drivers, but the Argentines were convinced that this was a veiled hint of refusing to express their political thoughts.

When you are at the monument, look around you: July 9 Avenue, the widest street in the world, runs through it.