// Center · Comuna 1 · Civic old city
Monserrat
Civic, historic, central, and highly walkable, with government, architecture, and old-city texture.
Hero: illustration adapted from a photograph by Roberto Fiadone (CC BY-SA 4.0). Illustration credits and adaptation licenses.
Photos: Yamil Melendez CC BY-SA 4.0 · Taken by the uploader, w:es:Usuario:Barcex CC BY-SA 3.0 · Roberto Fiadone CC BY-SA 4.0 · Banfield CC BY-SA 2.5 ar · via Wikimedia Commons
Monserrat at a glance
Monserrat is colonial churches, ministries and old apartment blocks on narrow streets — the oldest fabric in the city, busy by day and thin at night. It covers 2.2 km² in the city's center, Comuna 1, with 41,435 residents at the 2022 census — about 18,800 people per km², denser than the median barrio (14,700).
People who want downtown access, historic buildings, and easy movement across the center.
Can empty out after office hours depending on the block.
Anchors
The places that define Monserrat · our read- PlazaPlaza de Mayo
The square where everything in the country's history happened and still does; the Casa Rosada, the cathedral, the Thursday mothers.
- LandmarkCasa Rosada
The presidential palace at the end of the plaza; free tours on weekends, barricades on weekdays.
- StreetAvenida de Mayo
The Spanish boulevard from the plaza to Congreso: Tortoni, the Barolo, the A line's original stations — the most European street in the city.
- LandmarkCafé Tortoni
The 1858 café with a queue outside; famous, overpriced, and still worth one visit.
- LandmarkManzana de las Luces
The Jesuit block with the tunnels; the oldest built fabric in the city, and the barrio's claim on it.
1 on the calendar - LandmarkPalacio Barolo
The Dante-themed 1923 tower on Avenida de Mayo; the rooftop tour is the best view of the center.
1 on the calendar
Photos: Roberto Fiadone CC BY-SA 4.0 · Juanedc from Zaragoza, España CC BY 2.0 · Ferchulandia05 CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ministerio de Cultura de la Nación CC BY-SA 2.0 · EEJCC CC0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Fit scores
12 marks · 1 low · 10 highculture, healthcare and transit
quiet and schools
Good
median barrio
The overall read is an even weighting of the 12 marks we have for this barrio — a starting point, not a verdict. Of our six lenses it ranks highest under “Car-free”. Reported crime is left out: far more people pass through here each day than live here, so the rate below compares streets, not a resident's risk. The tick is the median of the 48 barrios. Eight marks are computed from public data and four are our read; what goes into each is on how we score.
What it costs
average asking prices · Q2 2026To buy: about US$1,614 per m² for a used two-bedroom (−25% vs the city). One-bedroom asking rents changed by +31.9% year on year in pesos. Budget separately for expensas (building fees) and utilities. These used-apartment benchmarks are not furnished short-stay quotes or offers. Figures are averages of what landlords ask — IDECBA (city statistics office), from Argenprop listings; 2nd quarter 2026, provisional — converted at the Banco Central de la República Argentina (BCRA, Argentina’s central bank) retail seller rate, Q2 2026 average.
Reported robbery & theft
reported crimes · 202571.5 reported robberies and thefts per 1,000 residents — well above the city rate of 32.2.
Read this one with care: offices, terminals or tourism put far more people on these streets every day than live here, while the denominator only counts residents. This is not an estimate of an individual resident’s risk. 1,528 robberies (with violence or threat) and 1,434 thefts were reported in Monserrat in 2025, against 41,435 residents in private dwellings at the 2022 census. Reporting rates, visitors, population changes since the census and differences between blocks limit the comparison. These counts do not measure all crime or predict personal safety. Source: the city's open crime map — method and sources.
A barrio is half the decision. The other half is the lease — the guarantee, the up-front cash, the contract terms — and that part we walk through with you.