UNESCO World Heritage Site

ESMA Museum and Site of Memory – Former Clandestine Centre of Detention, Torture and Extermination

ESMA Museum and Site of Memory – Former Clandestine Centre of Detention, Torture and Extermination is a cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site in Argentina, inscribed in 2023.

This property is located within the complex of the Former Navy School of Mechanics in Buenos Aires, in the former Officers’ Quarters. This was the Argentine Navy’s principal secret detention centre during the civil-military dictatorship of 1976-1983. As part of a national strateg

This property is located within the complex of the Former Navy School of Mechanics in Buenos Aires, in the former Officers’ Quarters. This was the Argentine Navy’s principal secret detention centre during the civil-military dictatorship of 1976-1983. As part of a national strategy to destroy armed and nonviolent opposition to the military regime, the Officers' Quarters building at ESMA (Escuela Superior de Mecánica de la Armada) was used for holding captive opponents who had been abducted in Buenos Aires and interrogating, torturing and eventually killing them.

Country
Argentina
Region
South America
Category
Cultural
Inscribed
2023
UNESCO reference
1681
Area
0.907 ha

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Counts are based on Zikzak's current UNESCO World Heritage dataset, sourced from UNESCO. Last updated 7 August 2026. UNESCO insights

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