Rosario: This is where Lionel Messi grew up - a tour

Lionel Messi (35) was crowned world champion with Argentina at the World Cup in Qatar.

Rosario: This is where Lionel Messi grew up - a tour

Lionel Messi (35) was crowned world champion with Argentina at the World Cup in Qatar. At the latest with this long-awaited triumph, the number 10 has set a monument. It wouldn't be the first to take a tour of his hometown of Rosario, Santa Fe Province.

Where better to start than at his childhood home at 400 Calle Lavalleja, in the heart of the La Bajada railway district in the south of the city? Six blocks away, visitors can walk past Las Heras School, where Messi went to school. The highlight there is certainly the mural "Otra Galaxia" (Another Galaxy).

Little Lionel learned to kick on the soccer field of the El Campito club. His path continued to lead him to the Club Abanderado Grandoli, located at 4800 Gregorio de Laferrere Street - just a few meters from the Paraná River. Of course, one place cannot be missing from the Messi tour: his favorite club Newell's Old Boys! If you like, you can stroll through the Malvinas complex in Zeballos 3100 and take photos of the football pitches where Messi dizzily dribbled his opponents as a young boy.

The Santa Fe Sports Museum (Ayacucho 4800) is one of the must-see stops on the itinerary: here, Messi's achievements and those of other figures in the province are honored. Another attraction is the imposing mural in honor of the Argentine soccer star (Av. de la Libertad 300), a 70-meter-long work of art on the outer wall of a high-rise building.

Not only in Rosario itself, the football star is honored with many murals and museums. The city of Funes, 16 kilometers from Rosario, has already awarded Messi honorary citizenship. Aside from the highlights of sporting history, there is also a lot to discover culturally. Along with Buenos Aires and Montevideo, Rosario is one of the cradles of tango. The Rosario International Poetry Festival has been held every September since 1993. Rosario is also the city with the highest density of theaters in the country.

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