Torre Monumental
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Torre Monumental , until 1982 Torre de los Ingleses ( Spanish for "Tower of the English"), is a clock tower in the Retiro district of the Argentine capital Buenos Aires . It was a gift from the British-born Argentinians to the city, the occasion was the centenary of the May Revolution of 1810. After the Falklands War the tower was officially renamed Torre Monumental, but some still name it after its original name Torre de los Ingleses.
history
On September 18, 1909, the National Congress passed Law No. 6368, which accepted an offer from the British in Buenos Aires to erect a memorial column to commemorate the centenary of the May Revolution.
An exhibition of designs in 1910 in the Salón del Bon Marché led the jury to choose the design by Ambrose Poynter, a nephew of the founder of the Royal Institute of British Architects . The tower was built from British materials by architects Hopkins and Gardom.
The sudden death of King Edward VII on May 6, 1910 caused Great Britain to cancel its delegation to the celebration of the revolution, so the foundation stone for the tower was not laid until November 26. The inauguration of the building took place on May 24, 1916 in the presence of the then Argentine President Victorino de la Plaza and British guests.
description
The clock tower is built in the Palladian style, the structure is decorated with symbols of the British Empire . a. with the Scottish thistle, the English rose, the Welsh dragon and the Irish shamrock. It is 75.5 meters high and has eight floors. At a height of 35 meters there are bells that were designed based on the bells of Westminster Abbey . An octagonal copper roof forms the end. The shields of Argentina and Great Britain and the inscription Al gran pueblo argentino, los residentes británicos, salud, 25 de mayo 1810-1910 can be seen above the entrance .
Recent past
Bitterness over the defeat in the Falklands War led to vandalism on the clock tower. In November 1984 there was a dynamite explosion at the base of the tower, but it caused little damage. Extensive renovations were carried out during Fernando de la Rúa's tenure . Public access was restored and a glass elevator was installed to the sixth floor using the original British mechanism. On the sixth floor there is a small exhibition of original components and a view of the district, the Retiro train station and the port. The clockwork is on the seventh floor. In 2006 the building was closed for technical maintenance work, and anti-British graffiti can be found on the building from time to time .
literature
- Berjman, Sonia; Plaza San Martín; 2003; ISBN 987-20641-0-5
Web links
Coordinates: 34 ° 35 ′ 31.9 ″ S , 58 ° 22 ′ 25.5 ″ W.