Mataderos

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**Mataderos**
Area	7.6 km²
Population	64,932 (INDEC 2001)
Density	8,543 people/km²
Comuna	C9


Important sites	Estadio Nueva Chicago

Mataderos or Nueva Chicago is a barrio (neighborhood) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, belonging to the 9th comuna (district).

Located south of Liniers in the west end of the city, its two names stem from the livestock market and slaughterhouses (the literal meaning of matadero), for which Chicago, Illinois was also famous.

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 features a lively commercial area along Eva Perón avenue, and the colorful Mataderos Fair on Sundays showcasing gaucho traditions, foods and crafts. Block parties at the old marketplace on Avenida de los Corrales, sometimes featuring tango and milonga, are famous for their vibrancy.

The route linking Buenos Aires city to Ezeiza airport goes through Mataderos.

The area's football (soccer) club, Nueva Chicago, was a staple of Argentine first division football during the 1980s. It spent most of the 1990s and 2000s playing in lower division, until promoted back in 2006. Its followers were notorious for their violent antics.

[edit] Famous people from Mataderos

Justo Suárez, "El Torito de Mataderos" (the bull from Mataderos), boxer. Fought for the lighweight world title in 1931, and lost to Billy Petrole.
Ernesto Bessone, Argentine stock-car race pilot.
Alberto Castillo, singer and actor