Buenos Aires Microcentro

Museo Mitre. This small museum was once the home of Bartolomé Mitre, who was the president of Argentina from 1862 to 1868 and founder of the important newspaper La Nación. The rooms on display, which include a study, bedroom, and library, retain many of the original furnishings and provide interesting insight into the lifestyle of the upper-crust gentry during the 19th century. Objects on display include selections from Mitre’s extensive library and historical manuscripts. At the time of publication, the museum was closed indefinitely for renovation. (San Martín 336. S Florida. ☎4394 8240; www.museomitre.gov.ar. Open Tu-Su 10am-6pm. Suggested contribution AR$2.)

Museo De La Policía Federal. Located on the 7th and 8th floors of a non-descript building, this museum seems dedicated as much to the people who oppose the law as to those who enforce it. The bottom, rather uninteresting, floor—devoted to the latter—seems a jumble of (often unlabeled) uniforms, medals, banners, and police equipment. The upper floor, however, is a veritable lesson in drug smuggling, illegal gambling, and counterfeiting, showcasing a variety of generally law-breaking devices. Those with a weak stomach beware, however: the forensics exhibit at the end of the floor is infamously explicit, complete with gruesome photos and mutilated wax corpses. Now that’s just unnecessary. (San Martín 353. S Florida. Some English captions. Open Tu-Sa 3-7pm. Free.)

Museo Histórico Arturo Jáuretche. This sleek museum explains the intricacies of Argentina’s economic history in a chronological series of Spanish captions, beginning in the early 19th century and ending in the 1990s. Aside from old photos and a huge amount of paper money, the displays include 19th-century printing machines and antique furniture from the city’s most powerful banks. (Sarmiento 362. S Florida or LN Alem. Open M-F 10am-6pm. Free.)