Mataderos

Mataderos is a barrio (neighborhood) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, belonging to the 9th Comuna (district).

Located in the west end of the city, its name stem from the livestock market and slaughterhouses (the literal meaning of matadero).

For much of its history, the area was a meeting point between the city and the countryside, and thus became a hub for rural commerce, and the main stop for gauchos inside city limits. Many famous payadas (improvised lyric contests) took place in the neighborhood bars.

Mataderos is the site of the 34 hectares (84 acres) Mercado de Liniers (the National Cattle Ranchers' Market), established in 1900, where up to 50,000 cattle are sold weekly to supply the beef market for the Greater Buenos Aires area; its headquarters, an Italianate arcade completed in 1899, also houses the Museo de los Corrales Viejos (Old Corrals Museum). The courtyard facing the headquarters is known for Emilio Sarniguet's monument, El Resero (The Herdsman), completed in 1931 and moved to its present location in 1934. A 2001 municipal ordinance mandating the market's relocation to San Vicente, 45 kilometres (28 mi) southwest of Buenos Aires, has been repeatedly postponed due to cattle vendor objections regarding the cost of relocation.