Buenos Aires had two foundings. In 1536 Don Pedro de Mendoza founded it for the first time with the name of Puerto de Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Aire (Port of our Lady Saint Maria of Good Air). Barely the size about 6990 square meters, it was besieged by hunger and destroyed by the indigenous populations of the region in 1541. The expedition of pedro de Mendoza comprised of two priests, in whose convent in the Spanish city of Sevilla, the "Virgine di Bonara" (Virgin of Good Air) was venerated. This virgin originated in the city of Cagliari, Italy and the priests suggested honoring her with the name of the city.
The principal economic activity of the Spanish colonies in South America was concentrated in the extraction of gold and silver, principally in the city of Potosi, in the Viceroyalty of Alto Peru. The transport of these precious metals was done by ship and mule to the Pacific coast of Panama and then by ship to Callao and from there by sea to Spain. The path of goods brought from Spain was the reverse. It implied large transport costs and risks in the face of pirate attacks. The role that the cities of the broader Argentine region played was then secondary and smaller.
Buenos Aires was founded for the second time by Juan de Garay on the 11th of June, 1580 with the objective of constructing a port to reduce the costs of transport between Alto Peru and Europe. Together with this role as a commercial intermediary, another activity that flourished in Buenos Aires was contraband, especially with Brazil.
In 1617 Buenos Aires was converted into the headquarters of the provincial government of the Río de la Plata under the auspices of the Viceroyalty of Alto Peru. From then on it would compete with Montevideo and Lima as the principal port of entry and exit of goods. The 8th of May 1776, King Charles III appointed the first viceroy of the Rio de la Plata. Don Peter of Cevallos, and Buenos Aires became the capital of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata.
In 1806 and 1807, the city suffered two invasions by England. In both, the people of Buenos Aires repelled the aggression and defeated the English who surrendered in the area of Retiro neighborhood. The flags and banners of the surrender can be found in the Church of Santo Domingo. In 1808 France invaded Spain and obligated its kings to abdicate in the name of France and the colonies revealed themselves to be against Napoleon, forming their own governing bodies in the viceroyalties.
The impossibility of the Spanish defending Buenos Aires against the English invasions, the political discrimination against the criollos (native peoples) and the economic restrictions imposed by the metropolis on the colonies, prompted the merchants of the viceroyalty to seek independence. The 25th of May 1810, the viceroyalty was displaced from office and the First National Governing Body was constituted. These revolutionary facts, which would later extend to other territories, culminated in the Declaration of Independence of Argentina on July 9th of 1816.
The control of the port and customs, the basis for the founding of Buenos Aires, was transformed into one of the central reasons behind the almost 70 years of civil wars that came after the war for independence. Buenos Aires was finally declared the capital of the Republic of Argentina, on September 21st of 1880, by law under the government of President Nicolás Avellaneda.
Actually, the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires is one of the 10 most populated in the world, and the third most populated of Latin America, with around 13 million inhabitants, that is to say, close to one-third of the population of the country.
Buenos Aires was initially nourished by European immigrants who came to Argentina between 1880 and 1930 who, defrauded by their hopes of becoming property owners, established themselves there. After the crisis of the 1930s, it began a slow process of industrialization and internal migration from the provinces to the city of Buenos Aires. This process was accelerated with the arrival of "peronismo" to power, attracting immigrants from neighboring countries as well. These successive migrations provoked cultural clashes that were not always peaceful or friendly, but which generated new cultural productions and identities in the city…visible around corner of every street.