They put up for sale the birthplace of Pope Francis, in Flores

“In this house, Pope Francis was born”, It can be read on the plaque on the facade of a property located at 268 Varela Street, in the Flores district of Buenos Aires.

On its facade, there are two identical wrought iron doors painted white but it is the one on the left which descends a long corridor towards the PH where the Sovereign Pontiff spent the first five years of his life.

Today, this property is inhabited by a family that has no connection with the Bergoglios and who have decided to put it up for sale. It has an area of ​​87 m2, has four rooms (three bedrooms, dining room, kitchen and bathroom) and the spaces are connected by an interior patio, where a staircase leads to another room – located on the mezzanine – and on the porch.

Although the house has been renovated, its structure remains intact and retains some original features inside such as parquet floors, openings and the marble staircase.

Although it was long believed that Jorge Bergoglio was born in a house at 531 Membrilar Street, also in Flores, an investigation by historian Daniel Vargas – who works at the Legislative Assembly of Buenos Aires – confirmed that his mother had given birth in the Varela house on December 17, 1936, at 9 p.m., and her birth certificate bears this address.

After this discovery, on the day Francisco turned 78 (December 17, 2014), the authorities of the Legislative Assembly of Buenos Aires placed a plaque there indicating that the first Argentine pope was born there.

“The family grew with children, then the parents found themselves in need of moving to a bigger house, about 5 years from Francisco. They left the house on Varela Street, which was small, and moved to Membrillar ”, Vargas explained to the Agency EFE.

The data from the Vargas investigation was approved by the pontiff himself, who received the investigation from the then deceased Senator Fernando “Pino” Solanas.

“My objective was to investigate the baptism of Francisco, which took place in Almagro, in the church María Auxiliadora y San Carlos which belongs to the Salesian congregation of San Juan Bosco, of Italian origin, precisely in Turin, where the family of the father of the dad ”, assured Vargas.

After the Pope contacted Vargas to congratulate and thank him for the work done, the historian decided to expand his research to cover not only baptism, but also childhood and adolescence, until ‘he be ordained a priest.

Until before the pandemic, this house was one of the mandatory stops on Pope Francis’ tour organized by the government of the city of Buenos Aires, who traveled by bus and for free in the districts of Flores, Almagro, Devoto and Agronomía, among others, to discover the life and work of one of the most famous Argentines in the world.

The walk started by the imposing Basilica of San José de Flores, where the Pontiff decided to devote his life to religion, walked through the door of the School n ° 8 “Pedro Antonio Cerviño”, where he completed his primary studies and then at the Parish of San José del Talar, in the Agronomía district. In this location is the image of the Madonna Unleashed, which was donated by Bergoglio and is today considered one of the most popular in the city.

When driving in the front of the Membrillar 531 house, In Flores, another plaque recalls that the Pope grew up there and lived there with his family. the newsstand where he used to buy newspapers, in Hipólito Yrigoyen and Bolívar, he is also part of the route; as the Hipólito Yrigoyen Technical School, Monte Castro, where he graduated from high school and graduated as a chemical technician. The visit ends on the sidewalk of Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order to which Francisco belonged.

For years, Daniel Vargas has been promoting a bill to declare the House of Varela 268 as a historical site and cultural heritage of the city. “The house deserves to be publicly recognized and preserved. It is necessary to declare the house of Varela a historical site, because it is a treasure, not only for the citizens of Buenos Aires, but for all Argentines ”, defended the investigator.

However, to the historical and heritage value is also added the market value that the property has and that the family who now live in this property wish to sell.

According to the latest report from Real estate report, eThe m2 of a second-hand property in the Flores district is priced at $ 1,495, so a PH of 87 m2 like the one the Pope lived in can be worth around $ 130,000.

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