Museum of the Old National Congress Hall

Balcarce 139
Tel. 4331-5147 / 4343-4416 / 4331-4633
Open Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Holidays: January

The building was located on a corner plot of land facing what was then the Fort and later was to become the Government House, on the historic Plaza de Mayo (May Square), adjacent to the Town Hall and the Cathedral. Of marked Italian influence, it was one of the first buildings erected for a specific purpose: to house the Legislative Power At present, a living part of it has been accommodated in the National Mortgage Bank building. It was here that Brigadier General Antonio González Balcarce was born, and it is now the seat of the Academy of History, a zealous guardian of the Old National Congress Hall that was in use from 1884 to 1905, and was declared a Historical Monument on May 21, 1942.
In the Session Room, the voices of Parliamentarian speakers of the most varied political allegiance have been heard, starting off by old Unitarians and federals, Mitre followers, Alsinists, autonomists, Catholics and civilians. Famous speakers include Sarmiento, Quintana, Vélez Sarsfield, Avellaneda, Roca, Uriburu and Palacios. The first session was held in 1864. Mitre read his message to the Legislature on May 12. In this hall, seven Presidents and their Vice Presidents were sworn in, and the resignations of two Presidents and two Vice Presidents were accepted. The last meeting was held on December 12, 1905. Until 1945, the General Archives of the Nation had their seat in this building.