Palacio Barolo – Heaven and Hell

When you first enter the building that houses Elebaires you will quickly realise that you are not in any ordinary building. In fact, despite entering one of the most beautiful and famous buildings in Buenos Aires, you have just entered hell!

Well, we know your experience at Elebaires wont be like entering hell. However, we’ll explain later why you can tell your family and friends back home that you have been sent to purgatory to learn Spanish.

You are now entering a very famous building…

The offices and classrooms of Elebaires sit on the third floor of el Palacio Barolo. El Palacio Barolo is one of the most famous and loved buildings in all of Buenos Aires. In a recent poll of porteños (citizens of the city of Buenos Aires) Palacio Barolo was named the third most popular building in all of the city. Our building was only beaten by el Palacio de Aguas Corrientes (a building that was built to hide massive pipes that bring water into the city!) and Teatro Colón (one of the most beautiful and most recognised opera houses in the world). Consequently, you should feel quite lucky that you are learning Spanish in such a renowned and beautiful building.

But what was that you said about hell?

The Italian architect, Mario Palanti, designed the building with the desire to preserve the ideas of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri and in particular his most famous work, The Divine Comedy. In that poem Dante journeys through hell (infierno), purgatory (purgatorio) and heaven (cielo). In the building Palanti designed three distinct levels – infierno (the basement and ground floor of the building), purgatorio (floors 1 to 14) and the final, topmost levels, 15 – 22, named cielo (heaven) – of course!

Elebaires is located in purgatorio but we are quite sure that even with all the verb conjugation you will never be in limbo with our great teaches and programs.

I was big – once.

Construction of the building began in 1919 and by the time it was completed in 1923 it was the tallest building in all of Argentina (and for a period, all of South America). Of course the days of being the tallest building – even in Buenos Aires – have been and gone. However, the grandeur and style of the building are not dwarfed by newer, larger buildings in the city. When it was completed the building even came equipped with a light house that was used to project messages to the citizens of Buenos Aires!

Each time you enter the building you will notice different features. From the iron cage elevators to the marbled staircases – whenever you discover something new about this incredible building you realize Palanti’s extremely high attention to detail. You can even take a guided tour of the building to learn more about its owner and namesake Luis Barolo, its architecture and the relationship between the building and Dante’s poetry.

And I have a twin!

A common trip for students to take while visiting Buenos Aires is to Colonia and Montevideo in Uruguay. If you do take a trip to Montevideo make sure you check out the twin building that Palanti designed in Uruguay’s capital. El Palacio Salvo is created in an almost identical style and is a little bit taller than Argentina’s version. Make sure you ask at the office about trips to Uruguay to see our twin building and more!
So the next time you arrive at school – or the first time you set foot in el Palacio Barolo – take a look around. You are may have entered hell but it certainly is a very beautiful version of it.