The Recoleta Cemetery holds thousands of marble mausoleums crammed together like a miniature city of stone. It began in eighteen twenty-two as a garden for the Franciscan monks who once tended the orchards here. When the monks left, the…
Recoleta Tombs and Palaces
Wander through the legendary tombs of Recoleta Cemetery before walking past the opulent, Paris-inspired palaces of Buenos Aires' golden era.
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1. Recoleta Cemetery
2. Basílica Nuestra Señora del Pilar
The Basílica Nuestra Señora del Pilar features a distinctive, bright white facade crowned by a blue and white tiled dome that catches the afternoon sun. Completed in seventeen thirty-two by the Franciscan order, it served as a sanctuary…
3. Alvear Palace Hotel
The Alvear Palace Hotel features a facade of white stone and gilded balconies that stand out against the surrounding gray buildings of Recoleta. Doctor Rafael Deheza commissioned the structure in the nineteen twenties to provide Buenos…
4. Residencia Maguire
The Residencia Maguire stands out with its heavy, ornate stone balconies and the distinctively grand proportions of a French-style private mansion. Built in the early twentieth century by architect Alejandro Christophersen, the house…
5. Palacio Duhau - Park Hyatt Buenos Aires
The Palacio Duhau is a limestone mansion with a French neoclassical facade that stretches across a city block in Recoleta. It was built in nineteen thirty-four for Luis Duhau, a cattle baron and minister of agriculture, who commissioned…
6. Palacio Fernandez Anchorena
The Palacio Fernandez Anchorena features a steep, dark mansard roof and a heavy stone facade that marks it as a piece of early twentieth-century French academic architecture. Juan Anchorena commissioned this residence in nineteen oh seven,…
7. Plazoleta Carlos Pellegrini
The Plazoleta Carlos Pellegrini features a bronze statue of the former Argentine president standing atop a tall granite pedestal. It sits at the intersection of Avenida Alvear and Arroyo, marking the spot where Pellegrini once lived in a…
8. Embassy of France, Buenos Aires
The Palacio Ortiz Basualdo occupies the corner with a rhythm of curved limestone balconies and a high, slate-tiled mansard roof. This mansion served as the private residence of Samuel Ortiz Basualdo and his family until the French…
9. Palacio San Martin
The Palacio San Martin features a facade of carved stone and elegant French neoclassical proportions that contrast with the bustling Retiro district. Mercedes Castellanos de Anchorena commissioned this residence in nineteen oh nine to…