La Boca is a southern neighborhood of Buenos Aires, so called because it sits at the mouth (“boca” in Spanish) of the Riachuelo. For many years its port was the main port of the city, but at the end of the 19th century it was replaced by Madero Port, specially prepared to receive ships with deep draft. During the great immigration period of the 19th many Italian immigrants, mostly Genovese, settled down in the neighborhood and gave La Boca its current appearance (in fact, the name that La Boca neighbors and Boca Juniors fans currently give to themselves –“xeneixes”– means “Genovese” in that Italian dialect). The newcomers used to stay in conventillos, big houses with many rooms for rent (a room for each family) and an internal patio: the shared areas of conventillos helped to mix those different immigrant cultures, making possible the exchange and communication between them. Tango, lunfardo and the 20th century popular culture of Buenos Aires would arise from the combination of that mixing and the previous cultural substratum.
THE OLD BRIDGE OF LA BOCA
PATIO OF A CONVENTILLO
(BEGINNING OF 20th CENTURY)
TYPICAL CONVENTILLO OF LA BOCA
(WITH SHEETS OF METAL AS WALLS)
(WITH SHEETS OF METAL AS WALLS)
