An Eva Peron Tour of Buenos Aires

This was where the young Evita, who had moved from the country to Buenos Aires to become an actress, met Juan Peron in 1944 at a gala to raise money for the victims of an earthquake in San Juan. The stadium is now a popular concert and events venue, and is situated close to the Kirchner Cultural Center, inaugurated by ex-president Cristina Kirchner, who some consider to be akin to a modern-day Evita.

Buenos Aires’ most famous graveyard is the final resting place of Eva Peron. Although, this wasn’t always the case. The story of Eva Peron’s body is a harrowing one, and one that remained a mystery for almost 20 years. After her death from cervical cancer in 1952 aged 33, her body was transferred to the Ministry of Labor, outside which Argentines queued for two weeks to see her body, such was the grief felt by the populace. Her body was embalmed and, while they waited to construct a monument to her, her body stayed in her office for almost two years before the military overthrew Peron, at which point her body disappeared. For 16 years, the whereabouts of her remains were unknown, until in 1971 it was discovered that her body was in Milan. It was flown to Spain, where it sat in Juan Peron’s living room of the house he shared with his then-wife Isabel, until it was able to be brought back to Buenos Aires, where it now lies 16 feet underground in the Duarte family crypt in the Recoleta Cemetery. The crypt is heavily fortified to prevent anyone from trying to steal it again.

Opened in 2002, the Evita Peron Museum is a must-see on any visit to Buenos Aires. Situated in a beautiful mansion that draws on Renaissance architecture for its style, the building itself was actually inaugurated as a shelter for homeless women and children by Evita in 1948, which makes it all the more fitting that her own museum should be located here. The museum holds a wealth of paraphernalia and memorabilia about Evita, and even has some of her possessions, including some of her clothes. Dine on the patio for the real Buenos Aires experience.