Palacio Barolo

Look up at the tower crowning this building. For years it was the tallest thing in Buenos Aires, and its architect conceived it as a poem.

1A businessman and an architect

Italian textile magnate Luis Barolo commissioned the building from fellow Italian architect Mario Palanti, whose plans are dated 1919. Barolo died before seeing it finished. The palace opened on 7 July 1923: at 100 metres it was the tallest building in the city until 1935, when the Kavanagh overtook it.

2Dante in Buenos Aires

Palanti, a great admirer of Dante Alighieri, organised the building as an allegory of the Divine Comedy. The ground floor and basements represent Hell; the office floors, Purgatory; and the tower, Paradise. It's often pointed out that the 100 metres of height match the poem's 100 cantos, and that its 22 floors allude to the stanzas of its verse. At the top, the beacon symbolises the Empyrean.

Palanti built a twin in Montevideo, the Palacio Salvo. The story goes that the two beacons were meant to signal to each other across the Río de la Plata.

It's also often said that Palanti wanted to bring Dante's ashes here to protect them from the war in Europe. It's a widely told story, but no documents back it up.

3What to look for

• The tower and beacon, relit in 2009.
• The ornamentation on the façade, with motifs evoking Dante's journey.
• The inner arcade, which you can glimpse through the main entrance.