The Boca Caminito

The machine is located at the entrance of the store.

About Caminito:

Caminito is one of the most iconic landmarks in Buenos Aires and a must-see attraction for visitors. With its typical sheet-metal tenement houses (“conventillos”) in the La Boca neighborhood, showcasing walls painted in vibrant colors, it is also an open-air museum stretching almost 150 meters long. Its winding path follows the course of a stream that flowed here until the early 20th century. The area was popularly known as “Puntin” (a diminutive of “puente,” meaning “bridge” in the Genoese dialect).

For many years, it was part of the railway route to Ensenada (an hour from Buenos Aires) until 1928, when the line was closed, leaving behind an abandoned alley. Thanks to the efforts of local residents, including painter Benito Quinquela Martín (one of the neighborhood’s greatest benefactors, whose legacy lives on through La Boca’s colorful houses), the area was revitalized in the 1950s into a pedestrian walkway and a “street museum,” where artworks by various artists were gradually added.

In 1959, at Quinquela Martín’s suggestion, it was named after the famous tango “Caminito”, composed by Juan de Dios Filiberto with lyrics by Gabino Coria Peñaloza, first performed during the 1926 carnival.

Did You Know?
The lyrics of the tango “Caminito”, written by Gabino Coria Peñaloza, were originally a poem composed by the same author in 1903 as a tribute to a trail in the town of Olta, in La Rioja Province.

Discover the history of the La Boca neighborhood.