Tunnels under Buenos Aires City - My visit to EL ZANJON

Hi Local Guides from all around the world. It’s good to make another post and share it with you :slight_smile:

This time I would like to tell you about my visit to El Zanjon where we could walk through mysterious tunnels under the neighborhood of San Telmo in Buenos Aires City.

When you enter the place it just looks like an old house (a “chorizo”=sausage house, because it’s long and it has many rooms together).

The house belonged to a very rich family. Later on they had to sell it because of an epidemic of yellow fever, caused by pollution in the water. They moved to Recoleta neighborhood and their house became a “Conventillo”. Conventillos were places where immigrants used to live as they were a cheap option. There were people from very different nationalities, which meant different traditions. Sometimes families from 7 people or more lived in the same room. And all the place only had two toilets and one kitchen!

Many years later the conventillo was practically destroyed. Take a look at the walls:

A european man bought the place with the idea of building a restaurant but as he was digging holes to make all the installations he found an underground river and houses around it. So that’s how EL ZANJÓN became a thing.

Take a look at this 360 picture I took there! That’s what you see when you go downstairs :slight_smile:

The place is really amazing, as it means that there were people living underground and around a river. Unfortunately taking pictures in the river part was not allowed, but the smell of humidity was amazing, taking into account that we were standing 10 cm over the “napas” (underground water). I could take pictures of some archeological rests that belonged to the families who lived there:

Now, as everything has been refurbished to be a museum, there are some pictures and old paintings of the time, showing how everything was. Here’s another picture:

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post as much as I’ve enjoyed my visit to El Zanjón. If you ever visit Buenos Aires, I would recommend you to go there! The visit lasts about an hour and it’s worth it :slight_smile:

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wow great loves to visitBuenos Aires one day :slight_smile: @ValeriaA


@ValeriaA wrote:

Hi Local Guides from all around the world. It’s good to make another post and share it with you :slight_smile:

This time I would like to tell you about my visit to El Zanjon with @santiagoirale , where we could walk through mysterious tunnels under the neighborhood of San Telmo in Buenos Aires City.

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Hey @ValeriaA ,

Thank for this great post again. Very interesting indeed!

Best regards,

Georges

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Thank’s @Surendra ! You can visit Buenos Aires anytime you want :slight_smile:


Surendra ha escrito:

wow great loves to visitBuenos Aires one day :slight_smile: @ValeriaA


@ValeriaA wrote:

Hi Local Guides from all around the world. It’s good to make another post and share it with you :slight_smile:

This time I would like to tell you about my visit to El Zanjon with @santiagoirale , where we could walk through mysterious tunnels under the neighborhood of San Telmo in Buenos Aires City.


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Thank you @GeorgesHR ! I’m glad you liked it :slight_smile:


GeorgesHR ha escrito:

Hey @ValeriaAumasque,

Thank for this great post again. Very interesting indeed!

Best regards,

Georges


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This is a very interesting story @ValeriaA Thanks for sharing in the details the story of

El Zanjon with us. I hope in the future I would pay a visit to El Zanjon if I eventually visit Buenos Aires.

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Thank you @HelloSamsonR ! You should visit El Zanjon, it’s not expensive and it’s worth it :slight_smile:


HelloSamsonR ha escrito:

This is a very interesting story @ValeriaAumasque Thanks for sharing in the details the story of

El Zanjon with us. I hope in the future I would pay a visit to El Zanjon if I eventually visit Buenos Aires.


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Hey @OSAMA look at this post! I knew you were waiting for it :smiley:

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@ValeriaA


@ValeriaA wrote:

Thank you @HelloSamsonR ! You should visit El Zanjon, it’s not expensive and it’s worth it :slight_smile:


HelloSamsonR ha escrito:

This is a very interesting story @ValeriaA Thanks for sharing in the details the story of

El Zanjon with us. I hope in the future I would pay a visit to El Zanjon if I eventually visit Buenos Aires.



Perhaps you need to share me more information about that lets see :).

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@santiagoirale you should post some pictures you’ve taken with your phone! I’ve only posted mine hehe

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Well @HelloSamsonR , in the post I’ve only written what i remember the touristic guide said. But here’s an article shared by @YK1001 in this post that is really interesting. The story behind this place is really amazing :slight_smile:


HelloSamsonR ha escrito:

@ValeriaA


@ValeriaA wrote:

Thank you @HelloSamsonR ! You should visit El Zanjon, it’s not expensive and it’s worth it :slight_smile:


HelloSamsonR ha escrito:

This is a very interesting story @ValeriaA Thanks for sharing in the details the story of

El Zanjon with us. I hope in the future I would pay a visit to El Zanjon if I eventually visit Buenos Aires.



Perhaps you need to share me more information about that lets see :).


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Hi @ValeriaA ,

Great post indeed!

Can’t wait for your next post, the Costanera Ecological Reserve.

Cheers,

Marin

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Thank you @MarinSt ! I’m happy you liked it. I’ll let you know when I post about the Ecological Reserve :slight_smile:


MarinSt ha escrito:

Hi @ValeriaAumasque,

Great post indeed!

Can’t wait for your next post, the Costanera Ecological Reserve.

Cheers,

Marin


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Hi @ValeriaA .

Thanks for this wonderful Recap of your visit.Buenos Aires City is in my wish list now. Underground river in El Zanjon is much welcoming to me. The beautiful photos which you have shared is just amazing and I enjoyed the 360 too. I thank @santiagoirale for joining in… :-))))

Regards,

Mohammed Salmaan Nawaz from India

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Thank you very much for your nice words @SalmaanN !! I hope to meet you in Buenos Aires one day :slight_smile:


SalmaanN ha escrito:

Hi @ValeriaAumasque.

Thanks for this wonderful Recap of your visit. Buenos Aires City is in my wish list now. Underground river in El Zanjon is much welcoming to me. The beautiful photos which you have shared is just amazing and I enjoyed the 360 too. I thank @santiagoirale for joining in… :-))))

Regards,

Mohammed Salmaan Nawaz from India


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You are most welcome, @ValeriaA . Will sure meet in Buenos Aires City or in your visit to India one day. I will improve my accent before that day… :grin::blush:


@ValeriaA wrote:

Thank you very much for your nice words @SalmaanN !! I hope to meet you in Buenos Aires one day :slight_smile:

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Muy buen post @ValeriaA felicitaciones. Como habia dicho antes, lo visité hace muchos años y en aquel momento se podía ingresar a una parte de los tuneles. Hoy parece que lo conservan mejor.

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I hope to visit India soon @SalmaanN ! :slight_smile:


SalmaanN ha escrito:

You are most welcome, @ValeriaA . Will sure meet in Buenos Aires City or in your visit to India one day. I will improve my accent before that day… :grin::blush:


@ValeriaA wrote:

Thank you very much for your nice words @SalmaanN !! I hope to meet you in Buenos Aires one day :slight_smile:


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Gracias @MaxWalsh ! Sí, hasta había una parte que estaba en refacción. Se veía cómo el agua de las napas se filtraba por el suelo, fue una experiencia genial :slight_smile:


MaxWalsh ha escrito:

Muy buen post @ValeriaAumasque felicitaciones. Como habia dicho antes, lo visité hace muchos años y en aquel momento se podía ingresar a una parte de los tuneles. Hoy parece que lo conservan mejor.


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It was a great day, visiting “El Zanjon” and the Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve.

It was very easy to get there. We actually parked like half a block away from the place. We also only had to wait like 1 minute before the tour began. They also offer an English spoken tour every 15 minutes.

Inside was amazing, it was literally a trip into the foundations of the city and it’s history.

As always I’m very happy to be a part of @ValeriaA 's adventures hahaha.

As requested here are some photos of the place.

Hope you guys enjoy it and wind up visiting us someday.

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