In colonial times, the Manzana de las Luces was Buenos Aires’ most important center of culture and learning. Even today, this collection of buildings still symbolizes high culture in the capital. On the northern side of the block are two of the five original buildings; Jesuit defensive tunnels were discovered in 1912. Tours (in Spanish) are available, and a cultural center on the premises offers classes, workshops and theater.
The first people to occupy the Manzana de las Luces were the Jesuits, who built several structures including the Procuraduría (1730; administrative headquarters), part of which still survives today. (Unfortunately for the Jesuits, they were eventually expelled from the premises – and Argentina – in 1767 by the Spanish, who felt politically threatened by them.) Along with housing offices, these buildings hosted converted indigenous people from the provinces. Later, during the 19th century, they were home to various museums, legislative offices, schools and universities.
The city’s oldest church, the Iglesia San Ignacio (1734), is also located here, originally built in adobe in 1661 and rebuilt or remodelled several times since. Today there remains only a single original cloister; it shares a wall with the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires (1863), a prep school where generations of the Argentine elite still send their children to receive secondary schooling. The city's oldest bookstore, La Librería de Avila , is also nearby at Alsina and Bolívar.
