Avenida 9 de Julio is the widest avenue in the world — a 140-metre-wide boulevard that carves through the centre of Buenos Aires with 12 lanes of traffic, central medians planted with jacaranda trees, and the Obelisco standing at the intersection with Corrientes like an exclamation mark in the middle of the city. The avenue was cut through existing city blocks in the 1930s, demolishing entire rows of buildings to create a Parisian-scale boulevard that outdid Paris by a factor of two.
The Obelisco, erected in 1936 to mark the 400th anniversary of the city's first founding, is 67.5 metres of white concrete that has become Buenos Aires' most recognisable landmark despite having no particular architectural distinction — it's a pointy white stick on a traffic island. Its significance is entirely emotional: the Obelisco is where Argentines gather to celebrate football victories, political triumphs, and New Year's Eve, and the image of the monument surrounded by tens of thousands of celebrating fans has become the defining image of Argentine public joy.
The intersection of 9 de Julio and Corrientes — the 'Broadway' of Buenos Aires, lined with theatres, bookshops, and pizza-by-the-slice joints — is the symbolic centre of the city, and crossing the avenue on foot (it takes two traffic light cycles) gives you a visceral sense of the scale that Argentine urban planners aspired to. The jacaranda trees that line the medians bloom in purple in November, creating a colour that photographs spectacularly against the white concrete of the Obelisco.
Verified Facts
Avenida 9 de Julio is 140 metres wide, the widest avenue in the world
The Obelisco was erected in 1936 for the 400th anniversary of the city's founding
The Obelisco is 67.5 metres tall
The avenue was created in the 1930s by demolishing existing city blocks
Get walking directions
Av. 9 de Julio & Av. Corrientes, Buenos Aires
