Balvanera is a barrio or neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Origin of name and alternative names The official name, Balvanera, is the name of the parroquia (parish) centered around the church of Nuestra Señora de Balvanera, erected in 1831. The zone around Corrientes avenue is known as Once after Plaza Once de Septiembre, the alternative name of Plaza Miserere (the square in which president Bernardino Rivadavia's mausoleum is located). The south-eastern part of Balvanera is often called Congreso, as it contains the Congress building and the neighboring Plaza del Congreso (Congressional Plaza). The north-western part of Balvanera is referred to as Abasto after the landmark Abasto market (now a shopping mall; see below). History and communities Towards the middle of the 18th century the lands of the current Balvanera belonged to Antonio González Varela, a Spaniard known by the nickname of Miserere. In 1799 the priest Damián Pérez, received a plot of land, where years later was built the Parish Nuestra Señora de Balvanera. During the British invasions of the River Plate, the town of Balvanera was the scene of the battles between the Spanish troops under Santiago de Liniers and the English, commanded by William Beresford. The Battle of Miserere, occurred during the second invasion, took place in the current Miserere square on July 2, 1807. In 1833 the Cemetery of the Dissidents was installed in Balvanera, a resting place for Protestants of English, German and US-American origin. The Protestant cemetery closed in 1892, the bodies that were buried there were transferred to the British Cemetery of Chacarita. This cemetery, also known as the "Cementerio de la Victoria" was located in the current Plaza Primero de Mayo, and among its illustrious residents was Elizabeth Chitty Curling de Brown (wife of William Brown), whose tomb was never found. Until the 1860s, Balvanera was considered an outskirt of Buenos Aires proper. In 1836, a census set its population at 3,635. Most inhabitants lived in quintas (small estates), and the zone was known as las quintas. The Camino Real (now Rivadavia) was the main road from the city to the west. In the late 19th century, Balvanera had a strong political tradition, identifying first with Adolfo Alsina and then with UCR leaders Leandro Alem and Hipólito Yrigoyen. By 1900, Balvanera was associated mostly with violently contested elections—and with the brothels in the Junín y Lavalle area where, according to Borges, the tango