La Plata

About

Buenos Aires’ little sister is well-known for being South America’s first planned city. Founded by governor Dardo Roha in 1882, he hired urban planner Pedro Benoit to design the city to be in the shape of a square with a central park and two main diagonal avenues traversing north to south and east to west, giving it its nickname “city of diagonals”. As both the city’s founder and planner were freemasons, strong freemason symbolism is infused through many aspects of the design, with subtle Italian and German influences present as well. If you’re a nature lover, you will delight in a stroll through the city, particularly if you end up at Paseo del Bosque, the largest green space within the city. There, you can treat yourself to the Museo de la Plata, a zoo, an observatory, and numerous botanical gardens. You can even rent a boat! Other notable sites include the Neo-Gothic Catedral de La Plata and architectural marvel Casa Curutchet, which was recently declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.