Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
As you have probably noticed, the beachfront
Torreón del Monje
, built in 1904 by Ernesto
Tornquist who donated it to the city, was
designed to resemble a medieval fortress.
Today it hosts special exhibits and is home to
confiterías
and tea rooms. The Jesuit belltower
is a fine vantage point for views of the ocean
and the city.
Nearby at Avenida Colón 1189 is the
Villa
Ortiz Basualdo
, built in 1909 and remodeled
in 1919 by the Italian-born engineer Alula
Baldassarini. It is one of the best examples of
picturesque architecture and art nouveau in
the city. Today it is home to the
Museo Munic-
ipal de Arte Moderno Juan Carlos
Castagnino
. In addition to the city's collection
of more than 450 paintings, photographs and
sculptures by national and local artists and a
salon dedicated to the painter for which it is
named, the museum also contains the home's
original furnishings, which were imported from
Belgium by the Ortiz Basualdo family. A few
blocks from the Villa, the 48-meter-high (157-
foot)
Torre Tanque
, at Falucho 993, supplies
the city's drinking water and great views of the
coast.
One block from Viamonte is Almirante Brown,
where at 1074 stands the
Capilla Stella
Maris
. This simple chapel is home to a beauti-
ful neoclassic image of the Virgin Mary. You are
now at the border of
Los Troncos
, Mar del
Plata's most traditional residential district and
home to the city's finest examples of pictur-
