Home to a cattle ranch in colonial times (Rancho de Castro), the area was the site of a base of operations for Viceroy Santiago de Liniers during the British invasions of the Río de la Plata of 1806. The first settlement was named Villa Liniers in his honor, and was the site of a major military camp after 1902. The town began to take shape with the arrival of the Ferrocarril Oeste railway in 1910, and was officially established that year. Ciudadela gradually grew around the railway station, and eventually merged into the Greater Buenos Aires urban agglomeration.
Fuerte Apache, whose official name is "Barrio Ejército de los Andes" (English: Army of the Andes Barrio), is a public housing development in Ciudadela. The subject of ongoing controversy, its colloquial name stems from Fort Apache, The Bronx, a 1981 movie about a crime-ridden part of New York City.
Ciudadela had 73,155 inhabitants according to 2001 census, and features a lively commerce hub along Avenida Rivadavia, as well as two Jewish cemeteries. The historic barracks are now the Argentine Army Museum.
