Banfield, Buenos Aires

For the football club, see Club Atlético Banfield.

Banfield
The corner of Hipólito Yrigoyen Ave. and French St.
Banfield Location in Greater Buenos Aires
Coordinates:
Country	Argentina
Province	Buenos Aires
Partido	Lomas de Zamora
Elevation	16 m (52 ft)
Population (2001 census [INDEC])
• Total	223,898
• Density	7,851/km2 (20,330/sq mi)
CPA Base	B 1828
Area code(s)	+54 11

Banfield is a city in the district of Lomas de Zamora in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, 14 km (9 mi) south of the centre of Buenos Aires. It forms part of the Greater Buenos Aires metro area.

History

Edward Banfield

In 1873 Banfield railway station, named after the Englishman Edward Banfield, the first general manager of the British-owned Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway (Spanish: Ferrocarril del Sud), was opened. On August 19, 1873, the first plots of land in the area were advertised for sale and extensive development took place from the 1880s onwards.

Sports

The city is home to Club Atlético Banfield football club founded in 1896, and to the Lomas Athletic Sports Club.

Culture

Banfield railway station.

Perhaps Banfield's most significant cultural insitituion is its Julián Aguirre Conservatory of Music, founded by renowned classical composer and conductor Alberto Ginastera, in 1951.

Hosting about 2,000 students yearly, it is the most important school of classical and choral music in Argentina and is the alma mater of musical instructors and scholars throughout the country and Latin America.

The writer Julio Cortázar, though born in Belgium, spent much of his childhood in Banfield. Banfield was also home of the renowned tango composer Alfredo De Angelis and the popular singer Sandro.

Gallery

• 

  Banfield train station c.1900.

• 

  Larroque avenue.

• 

  A Ferrosur Roca freight train at Banfield train station.

• 

  Barrio Parque Miñaqui.

External links

• (Spanish) Lomas Athletic Club - Official site
• (Spanish) Banfield's Commercial Guide
• (Spanish) Aguirre Conservatory of Music