The Casa Rosada: The Home of Argentina’s Government

Where the Casa Rosada now stands, there once lied a Spanish colonial fort. When Juan de Garay founded Buenos Aires in 1580, he began a project to better protect the city’s port, and with this in mind, he ordered for a fort to be built, overlooking the River Plate (Río de la Plata).

The construction of the fort began in 1595 and was completed in the first years of the 17th century; it was named the Real Fortaleza de Don Juan Baltasar de Austria. Over the years, the fort would evolve into a government building and serve various purposes. Aside from being a defensive point, the buildings inside the fort also became the residence of Spanish governors and viceroys.

In the mid-19th century, part of the fort was demolished following Argentina’s independence from Spain. New buildings were constructed on the site and in 1862, the building became the headquarters of the government of President Bartolomé Mitre. It was a few years later, under the presidency of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, that the building was turned into a palace and painted pink. It’s said that the colour pink was chosen to represent political unity, combining the red of the Federalists and the white of the Unitarians, who had previously been at odds before Argentina’s independence. There’s also another theory which says that the paint used was a mixture of white paint and cow’s blood, supposedly to make the paint difficult to remove. 

Up until this point, the Casa Rosada wasn’t one building, rather a series of buildings within the outer walls; none of which looked like the palace that’s seen today. It wasn’t until the late 19th century that the two main frontal buildings were built, although they were originally  separated. In 1884, architect Francisco Tamburini began work to unite the two buildings with an arch in the centre. Afterwards, many of the older buildings to the rear of the site were demolished and replaced with newer ones.