  History&nbsp; It was in 1536 that Buenos Aires was established by Juan de Garay. Buenos Aires was very poor until trade took up. The main trade that made Buenos Aires flourish was feral cattle and horses. Later, Buenos Aires and the region, back then called the Río de la Plata, prospered and advanced beyond Spain’s authority.
The Revolution against the Spanish rule took place in 1810 and then the independence in 1816. “After a disastrous and tyrannical period of rule by the Federalist Juan Manuel Rosas, Buenos Aires and Unitarism prevailed, ushering in a new era of growth and prosperity with the Unitarist constitution of 1853.
European immigration, foreign investment and trade were hallmarks of the new liberalism. However, excessive foreign interests made the economy particularly vulnerable to world economic downturns; wealth was ultra-concentrated, and unemployment rose as smallholdings failed and farmers were forced to leave the land and head for an increasingly burgeoning capital ill-equipped to deal with the influx.” High unemployment combined with low income caused labor militancy to grow. The result of this protest filled era was La Semana Trágica, the Tragic Week, where the strikers were brutally suppressed. “Ambitious municipal projects during the 1930s transformed the face of the downtown area forever into the sprawling grid of wide avenues running through the heart of the city.
Gone were the colonial-era streets as Buenos Aires sought to stamp its air of European sophistication on South American tradition. Following WWII Gran (Greater) Buenos Aires began to absorb surrounding suburbs and the weight of its growth bore problems of decaying infrastructure and public services, the spread of shantytowns and rises in unemployment, inflation and underemployment.” &nbsp; I have looked through some guides aftre my Buenos Aires and Patagonia trip and I think the best guide is the Lonely Planet. You can also stop by a tourist information booth anywhere in BsAs to get free maps of the city, cultural events, historical places and many more... 
