As soon as I exited the subway station, I found myself swept away by this acoustic spectacle. We all know that Buenos Aires is a very noisy city, but on this Sunday, things were different. The city was still.100, 000 people sitting in lounge chairs sipping mate as they quietly listened to the magical sound of the distant bells.

I was lucky enough to find a spot to sit on the steps of the Cathedral. From here I could observe and take photos of the bells of the Siemens Building, city hall and the Cabildo. It was 630 pm and the city lights were starting to light as the sun slowly shined away from La Reina Del Plata (the queen of  plate (silver)).

It was so quiet because the audience were so hypnotized by the sounds.  At one moment a kid skated by on his board and people shushed him to get off as if he were making noise in the Colon theater. Next to me there were a couple of students from the states that were fascinated. One was from Montana and the other one Californian. Like most foreigners I talk to, they adore Buenos Aires and as I, they had never heard of a bells concert. This was a first for us.

Suddenly a really really scary sound reminiscent of the days of the Malvinas War came to life to haunt the memories of the spectators, an anti air raid siren at full blast. This combined by an awesome show of first class fireworks. Suddenly everything started to tremble and the sky filled with lights, explosions and yes, frightened pigeons fled in terror as their early evening was interrupted. I can’t remember when was the last time I saw so many pigeons, more than I saw at Trafalgar Square in London on my last visit.

The show culminated with a deafening spectacle of intermixed sirens, bells and expiations adorned by our superb architecture and the incandescent lights of the rockets. It was one unforgettable hour of amazement and awe. Two hundred cities round the globe have experienced this entertainment round the globe since 1988. Come back to Buenos Aires soon, this is something that should be repeated after evening mass on a Sunday during the summer – it would be a smash hit!

By order of the mayor, the rectangle formed by the avenues Alem, Paseo Colón, Belgrano, Lima, Cerrito and Corrientes were turned into a haven away from cars and urban noise. The night  belonged to the clanging of  bells from the centenary towers of the  Parroquia de San Ignacio de Loyola, in  Bolívar and Alsina; the five   bells of the convent of  San Francisco, in Alsina and Defensa; the former Prensa building ,in  Avenida de Mayo 575; the  Cabildo, in  Bolívar 65, the bicentennial  convent of San Juan Bautista, in Alsina 820; the clock tower of the city  legislature, in  Perú 130; the chapel of San Roque, in Bolívar and Defensa; City Hall , in Bolívar 1; the Basilica of Santo Domingo, in Defensa and  Belgrano,and  the church of  San Miguel Arcángel, in Mitre and Suipacha.

You could be standing on any corner of the historical district and thanks to the peace and quiet; you could hear the concert, even the most distant bells. At the end, I walked up the middle Diagonal Norte towards the Obelisk with no traffic. The only noise was the footsteps of the thousands of portenos and Buenos Aires visitors that surrounded me as they literally marched home with great smiles and a quiet and reflective mood.

Bravo Buenos Aires, Bravo Señor Macri – obviously he does have his moments and gets it right – let’s praise our beleaguered mayor, when he deserves it of course!!

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The “Cabildo” is witness to 418 years of political and social history in the Republic of Argentina. The Argentine government declared the building as a national monument in 1933 and the building is now a museum.

The building and its patrimony evoke the rich social and political history that formed Argentina, and is testament to our proud heritage and national identity.

Long before Casa Rosada, Colon Theater and the Obelisk were constructed, the Cabildo was the main political institution and architectural attraction in Buenos Aires city.

I remember my first field trip to the Cabildo. A classic that sticks firmly in my mind, just like when I lived in the United States and my teacher took us to see the Liberty Bell.

On any day you will see scores of schoolchildren, white coated ‘cherubs’, flocking to the Cabildo in order to re-live our history.  Every Argentine child knows that during a rainy week of May of 1810, porteños stood in the muddy Plaza de Mayo with their umbrellas waiting for news from inside the Cabildo (very similar to the faithful crowding the square of the Vatican while waiting for the smoke that signals a new Pope).  The news they eagerly awaited was about the self-determination of the Viceroyalty of the Rio del la Plata whilst a Joseph Bonaparte usurped the Spanish throne.

In commemoration of our bicentennial year, the museum has recently undergone a full restoration and the many exhibits that chart our history modernized with the latest technology and media to ensure a fun and enlightening exhibit for visitors of all ages.

Amazingly, restoration work took just 50 days and involved an investment of over 3 million pesos. Some 50 workers toiled 7 days a week. Workman used two thousand six hundred liters of donated lime to whiten the Cabildo’s façade riddled with graffiti from protests that take place in the square. The original door, damaged by spray-paint, needed full and costly restoration.  This mindless defacing of our proud history tolerated. Every time somebody sprays paint on the walls of the Cabildo, they cause more damage than they know.

The Cabildo, built for eighteenth century suffers a daily twenty-first century pounding from the vibrations of the Subway to air pollution from the traffic – we must care for our heritage.

Elina Tassara, who also worked in the restoration of the Sistine Chapel, expertly completed the work with amazing results. The exhibit halls are spacious, luminous with new furnishings and ‘giantography’, and new technologies that allow visitors to interact with history.

On the ground floor is the reconstruction of Buenos Aires first prison. This is the only section of the original eighteenth century structure that suffered the changes of architectural tastes and style. At the end of the nineteenth century, city planners decided to change the colonial face of Buenos Aires to ensure a progressive modern European feeling throughout the city – it worked.

On the first floor, visitors find the town hall, refurbished with original furnishings circa 1810. In addition, for the first time, the visitors can access the balcony of the Cabildo from where our early government announced to the eagerly awaiting crowd on the Plaza De Mayo that we would not recognize a new king imposed by Napoleon Bonaparte. The views of the square and the Pink House make for a great photo opportunity. In addition, the new exhibits feature the first printer ever, an original invitation to the Cabildo dated 22 May 1810 and a flag captured from the British Invasions.

The Cabildo you visit today is a reconstruction of the original building completed between 1938 and 1940 by the architect Mario Buschiazzo. The windows, door, the tower and the clock are not original. Notwithstanding that, this exhibit captures our glorious history so wonderfully that tourists must make time to visit!

Stroll through the patio amongst the trees that protected our founding fathers from the scorching summer sun. Thursdays and Fridays, a select group of the city’s best artisans offers their handcrafts and interacts with the visitors exploring the roots of the Argentine culture.

The Cabildo Museum, (Bolivar 65)

Open Tuesday to Friday from 10.30am to 5pm.

Sundays and holidays from 11.30am to 6pm.

Telephone:4342-6729 or  4334-1782.

E-Mail: cabildomuseo_nac@yahoo.com.ar

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