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<strong>Buenos</strong> <strong>Aires</strong>’ <strong>Top</strong> <strong>10</strong><br />
14<br />
Avenida de Mayo<br />
From its inception, Avenida de Mayo was an emphatic statement to the world<br />
that <strong>Buenos</strong> <strong>Aires</strong> was a cosmopolitan city. The Parisian-style boulevard, lined<br />
by uncharacteristically wide sidewalks, links the National Congress to the<br />
Casa Rosada, breaking midway at 9 de Julio. While today’s mundane shops<br />
and stores do their best to diminish the grandeur, Avenida de Mayo’s<br />
buildings can render even a casual architecture buff mute. Belle Époque, Art<br />
Nouveau, and Art Deco façades in varying states of repair coalesce into a<br />
textbook study of late-19th- and early-20th-century forms. Some of <strong>Buenos</strong><br />
<strong>Aires</strong>’ oldest bars, cafés, and bookstores are here, while underfoot, polished<br />
teak cars rattle along the city’s oldest subway, the Línea A.<br />
Casa de la Cultura<br />
The Avenida is just<br />
13 blocks, making for<br />
a relaxed stroll.<br />
Stop at Café Iberia<br />
(cnr Avda. de Mayo<br />
and Calle Salta) for<br />
tortilla española.<br />
• Map E2<br />
• Hotel Chile: Avda.<br />
1297; 4383-7877<br />
• Palacio Barolo: Avda.<br />
de Mayo 1370;<br />
4383-<strong>10</strong>65<br />
• Hotel Castelar: Avda.<br />
de Mayo 1152;<br />
4383-5000<br />
• Café Los 36 Billares:<br />
Avda. de Mayo 1265–<br />
71; 4381-5696<br />
• Palacio Vera: Avda. de<br />
Mayo 769–777;<br />
4345-8800<br />
• Teatro Avenida: Avda.<br />
de Mayo 1222;<br />
4381-0662; www.<br />
balirica.org.ar<br />
• Casa de la Cultura:<br />
Avda. de Mayo 575;<br />
4323-9407; www.<br />
buenosaires.gov.ar<br />
<strong>Top</strong> <strong>10</strong> Features<br />
1 Edificio la Inmobiliaria<br />
2 Hotel Chile<br />
3 Palacio Barolo<br />
4 Hotel Castelar<br />
5 Café Tortoni<br />
6 Café Los 36 Billares<br />
7 Palacio Vera<br />
8 Teatro Avenida<br />
9 Edificio Drabble<br />
0 Casa de la Cultura<br />
! Edificio la<br />
Inmobiliaria<br />
Built in 19<strong>10</strong>, this distinguished<br />
building (above)<br />
of the Plaza de los Dos<br />
Congresos takes its design<br />
from the Italian Neo-<br />
Renaissance movement.<br />
Hotel Chile @ Painted brilliant white<br />
and accented by gold and<br />
blue mosaic tiles, Hotel<br />
Chile (right) is rhapsodically<br />
Art Nouveau. It puts on its<br />
best face on the outside.<br />
£ Palacio Barolo<br />
This ornate building,<br />
built in 1923, was the<br />
tallest until the Kavanagh’s<br />
(see p34) completion in<br />
1935. Its lobby has vaulted<br />
ceilings, gargoyle motifs,<br />
intricately patterned floor<br />
tiles, and wrought-iron<br />
elevator cages.
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