Glorieta del General José de San Martín

The Glorieta del General José de San Martín honors the Argentine Liberator. It’s the ninth of ten important Paseo de la Reforma glorietas, and one of the least prominent. Strollers into and out of the Sunday La Lagunilla Antiques Market are most likely to be a little disoriented here.

The traffic roundabout here coincides with both the Metro Garibaldi-Lagunilla station, and the Garibaldi stop on Metrobús Line 7. But the street traffic is what makes it all a bit of a gnarl. Eje Central is passing beneath the entire glorieta, but not with out extending a few lateral tendrils. Eje 1 Norte is passing both eastward and westward, called Rayón to the east, and Mosqueta to the west. This long east-west drag that makes up the enormous Tepito street market. Vendors are nearly always visible on both sides of the street.

The Liberator of Argentina

• The glorieta is named for the equestrian sculpture honoring the General José de San Martín. He’s widely considered the liberator of the Argentina. He’s also considered important to the independence movements of Chile and Peru. San Martín collaborated in 1822 with Simon Bolívar, honored in the eighth Reforma Glorieta.

The monument was placed here in 1973 at the close of the ten-year extension of Reforma. That extension had begun in 1964. Today it’s still easy to get lost. The Plaza Garibaldi, for the which the Metro station is named, is a five-minute walk back down the Eje Central.

But the unsung hero of the Glorieta del General José de San Martín is too often mistaken for a cross-section of a football stadium, or maybe just a stand of bleachers. It’s actually one of the city’s few pet-and-exotic fish markets. (There are a couple of others). The Mercado De Peces Garibaldi takes up just about the entirety of the glorieta’s northwestern edge.

It’s generally a bit cooler in temperature than out on the street. And that makes a nice diversion for those venturing into the Tepito and Lagunilla tianguis areas.