Why it curves
The street bends because it follows the bed of an old stream. From 1866 a railway branch ran along it, until the line closed in 1928 and the strip was left abandoned.
Urban Tales › Buenos Aires › Caminito
Caminito: a railway that became a street museum
Before it was Buenos Aires' most colourful street, Caminito was a stream and then a railway line. In 1959 the painter Benito Quinquela Martín helped turn it into an open-air street museum.
NeighbourhoodLa Boca
Railway1866–1928
Street museum since1959
Named afterthe 1926 tango "Caminito"
Hear the Caminito story, in the app's voice
A short preview. The full story plays on its own when you walk up to it with Urban Tales.
Three stories most visitors miss
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A painter's project
In the 1950s, neighbours led by La Boca painter Benito Quinquela Martín cleaned it up. In 1959 the city made it a street museum and named it after the tango "Caminito".
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The colours
The houses are conventillos of wood and corrugated iron, where Genoese immigrants once lived. The story goes that they were painted with whatever paint was left over from the shipyards, so no two walls matched.
TipGo in the daytime and stay around Caminito and the main streets nearby. Fundación Proa and the Quinquela Martín museum are a short walk away. With Urban Tales running, the street's story plays as you arrive.
Nearby landmarks
Caminito: common questions
Why are the houses in Caminito so colourful?
They're conventillos, simple wood and metal houses where immigrants lived. The usual story is that they were painted with leftover paint from the port, a tradition kept alive when the street became a museum.
Why is it called Caminito?
It was named in 1959 after "Caminito", a 1926 tango with music by Juan de Dios Filiberto, who grew up in La Boca.
Is Caminito safe to visit?
The street and its immediate surroundings are busy with visitors during the day. Like most tourist areas, it's best visited in daylight, keeping to the main streets.