Buenos Aires has many fine plazas. In the city center, close to the Rio de la Plata, the first plaza was laid out in 1580 as Plaza del Fuerte. It was renamed as Plaza de Mayo with independence. The Plaza del Congreso was created further inland connected by the then Avenida de Mayo. Along this route grew the famous shopping areas of Avenida Santa Fe, Lavalle and Santa Fe.
The Plaza de la Republica contains the Obelisk, and the Plaza Libertador General San Martin, honoring Argentina's greates hero, Jose de San Martin, lies north of Plaza de Mayo near the Plaza Fuerza Aerea.