Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Avenida de Mayo
From its inception, Avenida de Mayo was an emphatic statement to the world
that Buenos Aires was a cosmopolitan city. The Parisian-style boulevard, lined
by uncharacteristically wide sidewalks, links the National Congress to the
Casa Rosada, breaking midway at 9 de Julio. While today's mundane shops
and stores do their best to diminish the grandeur, Avenida de Mayo's
buildings can render even a casual architecture buff mute. Belle Époque, Art
Nouveau, and Art Deco façades in varying states of repair coalesce into a
textbook study of late-19th- and early-20th-century forms. Some of Buenos
Aires' oldest bars, cafés, and bookstores are here, while underfoot, polished
teak cars rattle along the city's oldest subway, the Línea A.
Top 10 Features
1 Edificio la Inmobiliaria
2 Hotel Chile
3 Palacio Barolo
4 Hotel Castelar
5 Café Tortoni
6 Café Los 36 Billares
7 Palacio Vera
8 Teatro Avenida
9 Edificio Drabble
0 Casa de la Cultura
Casa de la Cultura
The Avenida is just
13 blocks, making for
a relaxed stroll.
Stop at Café Iberia
(cnr Avda. de Mayo
and Calle Salta) for
tortilla
española
.
•
Map E2
• Hotel Chile: Avda.
1297; 4383-7877
• Palacio Barolo: Avda.
de Mayo 1370; 4383-
1065; www.pbarolo.
com.ar
• Hotel Castelar: Avda.
de Mayo 1152; 4383-
5000; www.
castelarhotel.com.ar
• Café Tortoni: Avda. de
Mayo 825; 4342-4328;
www.cafetortini.com.ar
• Café Los 36 Billares:
Avda. de Mayo 1265-
71; 4381-5696
• Palacio Vera: Avda. de
Mayo 769-777;
4345-8800
• Teatro Avenida: Avda.
de Mayo 1222;
4381-0662; www.
balirica.org.ar
• Casa de la Cultura:
Avda. de Mayo 575;
4323-9407
£
Palacio Barolo
This ornate building,
built in 1923, was the
tallest until the Kavanagh's
(see p34)
!
Edificio la
completion in
1935. Its lobby has vaulted
ceilings, gargoyle motifs,
intricately patterned floor
tiles, and wrought-iron
elevator cages.
Inmobiliaria
Built in 1910, this distin-
guished building
(above)
of the Plaza de los Dos
Congresos takes its design
from the Italian Neo-
Renaissance movement.
@
Hotel Chile
Painted brilliant white
and accented by gold and
blue mosaic tiles, Hotel
Chile
is rhapsodically
Art Nouveau. It puts on its
best face on the outside.
(right)
14
