A visit to Palacio Barolo should be at the top of any architecture enthusiast’s list of activities in Buenos Aires.

Palacio Barolo is an incredibly surprising Buenos Aires landmark, which at the time of its construction in the 1920’s was South America’s tallest building. Still today it towers far above most of the city’s skyscrapers and from its lighthouse (yes, it has its very own lighthouse, which can been seen all the way from Montevideo!) you can see one of the most astounding panoramic views of Buenos Aires; Of Plaza del Congreso, the rest of city and beyond the city limits, the Rio de la Plata. And as if the incredible viewpoint wasn’t enough, prepare to be even more amazed by the building itself.

Buenos Aires landmarks: Palacio Barolo – Once South America’s tallest building

A Building based on Dante’s Divine Comedy

In 1923, the Italian Immigrant, Luis Barolo who made his millions in the Argentine textile trade, commissioned the Italian architect, Mario Palanti, to build him a palace to add as a Buenos Aires Landmark. Both Italians were huge fans of Dante, the legendary Italian poet. So much so that the palace was designed to pay tribute to Dante’s epic poem The Divine Comedy. His famous masterpiece, which he wrote in the 14th century, is considered one of the greatest pieces of literature ever to be written. It is an emblematic vision of the Afterlife, describing Dante’s own imaginary passage through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven.

The spectacular view form the top of Palacio Barolo / source

The two Italians were fanatics of Dante’s iconic poem and based the structure of the Buenos Aires Landmark the Palacio Barolo on it: To start off, the building is exactly 100 meters tall, one meter for every canto of the poem. Following Dante’s own journey in the poem, a visitor to the Palacio Barolo begins his journey in Hell (the basement and ground floor), moves up through Purgatory (1^st to 14^th floor) and ends as you reach Heaven (from floor 15 to 22). The 22 floors of the building – each of which is split into 22 offices – represent the number of stanzas of the Divine Comedy’s verses. There’s fascinating details throughout the building, we recommend you go see it yourself! This blog post would go on for pages and pages, if we were to describe all the remarkable quirks of the palace’s fascinating layout.

As you reach the cupola of the palace – representing Heaven – and which is inspired by a Hindu temple in India. There’s even a lighthouse on top of the building, from which you can see the spectacular panoramic view of Buenos Aires.

The cupola of the Buenos Aires Landmark: Palacio Barolo / source

Today, Palacio Barolo functions as an office building; however, its doors are open to anyone who wants to visit this spectacular Buenos Aires landmark. The building itself runs their own daily tours (in English and Spanish).  A favourite being the nighttime tours, meaning you can enjoy the nighttime view of Buenos Aires, illuminated by the floodlights of the Palacio’s lighthouse.

Palacio Barolo |  www.palaciobarolotours.com | Avenida de Mayo 1370, Buenos Aires

For more info on tours and activities in Buenos Aires, have a look at our website, where you will find a variety of guided city tours ensuring you don’t miss out on any of Buenos Aires’ spectacular landmarks.

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Puente Transbordador in La Boca / source

However, one attraction that many people have probably seen when visiting La Boca but do not know what it was built for, is the Transporter Bridge Puente Transbordador. This huge, dominating Boca landmark is located at the portside area of El Caminito, to the north of the Riachuelo-Matanza River, the Transporter Bridge linked Maciel Island with the mainland of Buenos Aires, La Boca, after it had been completed in May 1914. The bridge was named after the former President, Nicolas Avellaneda and it was used to carry pedestrians, carts, cars and trams.

Although it is not the most attractive construction Buenos Aires has to offer, it is certainly one of the most impressive and has become a tourist attraction itself. This Transporter Bridge was seen as a significant achievement for Argentina and the Porteños as there were only 20 built in the world and it was constructed during the Argentine industrial revolution. However, as the number of people using cars has increased in Buenos Aires, the necessity for the Transporter Bridge has decreased until it was eventually decommissioned in 1960. In 1940, the new Puente Transbordador Nicolas Avellaneda was constructed as a road bridge, less than 100 metres away from the original, old Transporter Bridge. The new bridge has taken many design features from the old Transporter Bridge and it has even taken on the same name.

Puente Transbordador a true Boca landmark

Although the Transporter Bridge is unused, it is one of 8 transporter bridges which remains standing in the world, and is the only one outside of Europe. It is also extremely symbolic as the Boca landmark features in many photographs of La Boca as well as, in many of Quinquela Martin’s paintings. Its legacy still lives on, having become a national monument and in 1995, it was voted as a Site of Cultural Interest in Buenos Aires and is currently protected as a National Historical Monument.

Make sure you go and see this impressive Boca landmark and visit this national monument and local treasure that is seen and known by few tourists who visit Buenos Aires.

If you are looking for tours and activities in Buenos Aires during the month of November, visit our official website www.bsas4u.com

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