The Casa Rosada sits at the eastern end of the Plaza de Mayo, a large square which since the 1580 foundation of Buenos Aires has been surrounded by many of the most important political institutions of the city and of Argentina. The site, originally at the waterline of the Río de la Plata, was first occupied by the "Fort of
Juan Baltazar of Austria," a structure built on the orders of the founder of Buenos Aires, Captain Juan de Garay, in 1594. Its 1713 replacement by a masonry structure (the "Castle of San Miguel") complete with turrets made the spot the effective nerve center of colonial government. Following independence, President Bernardino Rivadavia had a Neoclassical portico built at the entrance in 1825, and the building remained unchanged until, in 1857, President Justo José de Urquiza orders the fort demolished in favor of a new customs building. Under the direction of British Argentine architect Edward Taylor, the Italianate structure functioned as Buenos Aires' largest building from 1859 until the 1890s.
Its balcony, which faces the square, has served as a podium for most Argentine Presidents and a number of other historical figures, including Eva Perón, who rallied the descamisados from there, and Pope John Paul II, who visited Buenos Aires in 1982 and in 1987. Madonna, in 1995, sang her filmed rendition of the song "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," for the movie Evita, from the balcony after a meeting with President Carlos Menem. Menem had the remains of the Customs House excavated in 1991, incorporating it into the Museum of the Casa Rosada. The remains, located behind the building, led to the rerouting of Paseo Colón Avenue, unifying the Casa Rosada with the Parque Colón (Columbus Park) behind it. The Casa Rosada itself is currently undergoing extensive renovation delayed by an economic crisis around 2001. The work is scheduled for completion on the 2010 bicentennial of the May Revolution that led to independence.
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