Palacio Barolo

A must see if you are interested in architecture. And the few from the roof is very worth it. Definitely try to book the sunset times as it is a stunning place to watch the city light up

Guided tour is required to tour the building. Our guide was Cecelia and she was very good. 90 minute tour including the tower. The tour booth in the building only accepts cash. In the afternoon they have the machine that they use to accept credit card payments. You can reserve and pay on the website from your phone

1 1/2 hour tour close to sunset. Absolutely worth it. Elevators themselves are an incredible throwback. Ride up 13 floors then walk another 8 on bery small dark stone stairs. View at the top is magnificent.

The tour guide was awesome. I think her name was Karina. She was really clear and swapped between Spanish and English brilliantly. She was super informative. The building is beautiful from the outside and interesting on the inside. The view from the lighthouse is really good. I have given 4 stars because I think it is overpriced compared to other tours in the city.

Great tour, lovely views, quite overpriced. While the Divine Comedy and Masonic elements are interesting, they’re also underwhelming in their scale. They have tours almost every year and you can get them easily if you arrive about 15-20 minutes before the one hour mark (Aug 2024).

We did the night tour. It is a little on the expensive side, but the tour guide, Enzo, was amazing. He switched from English to Spanish very well, was very knowledgeable and helpful. I do NOT recommend this experience if you are claustrophobic or are afraid of heights: you will have to walk 8 flights of very narrow stairs. The night tour was amazing to admire the sunset because it was summer.

Visiting the Palacio Barolo in Buenos Aires was an unforgettable experience. This iconic building, filled with history and symbolism, is not only an architectural masterpiece but also a fascinating journey into the Masonic and literary legacy of its creators. Vanessa, our guide, did an outstanding job. Her deep knowledge, enthusiasm, and ability to connect the symbolic elements of the building with Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy and Masonic ideals were truly captivating. She led us through every corner of the building, explaining its design inspired by The Divine Comedy, from the levels representing Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, to the dome, which offers one of the most breathtaking views of the city. Vanessa's attention to detail and the overall quality of the tour made this experience a must for anyone who loves architecture, literature, and history. The Palacio Barolo is undoubtedly a testament to the creativity, spirituality, and vision of its architect, Mario Palanti, and his client, Luis Barolo. I highly recommend this experience.

Beautiful building built based on the Devine Comedy. Take the tour!!! So much info about the building + the views from the top. Reservations not required as long as space is available on tour of choice, but recommend for sunset tour. All tours are bilingual.

If you love Dante, leg workouts, and sweeping city views, Palacio Barolo is a must-visit on your Buenos Aires itinerary. The details of the architecture that you'll learn about on the tour are fascinating, and it is pretty interesting to visit an architectural marvel that is still a functioning office building (despite the creaky elevators!). If you have any fear of heights or tight spaces, this is probably not going to be a great time for you since the spiral staircases are at points extremely narrow, and the lighthouse at the summit has glass walls. I loved getting the bird's eye view of Buenos Aires, and I appreciated the rich history our guide contributed to our understanding of the city, the building, and the context of the construction. Remember when kooky rich people of the past would commission incredible monuments to their niche interests/devotions? This is a great example of that! Note: you should definitely make a reservation in advance online for the tour, and the bathroom is downstairs and probably something to stop by before the tour begins.

Quite beautiful architecture with interesting history. Tour is about an hour and we had a very friendly and informative guide. The views on top are incredible, and a unique experience climbing up to the light house.

Dante's Inferno - in the shape of a building! This architectural gem is a wonderful skyscraper, made in the theme of the book/poem Dante's Inferno. This is a working office building with plenty of shrinks, architects, consultants, and other professionals who make their work home here. You can get in and just kinda poke around the bottom floor, but I think you'd need a guided tour to get to see all the floors, especially the upper floors. The tours are available in English and Spanish. The building is divided into Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. As you ascend the through the building, you go through the levels of hell, and upward towards heaven. The last several stories are a narrow, narrow staircase that takes you up to the lighthouse at the very tippy top of the building. It's got a magnificent view of downtown BA and the Parliament building. Along the way up through the levels of heaven, they let you into the architect's office, and you can see what a 1920's Buenos Aires office looked like, with all the original typewriters and phones and stuff. They have old articles and books about Dante and the Inferno, along with all the Argentine pop-cultural references to this building. Argentina implored the Italian government to dig up Dante's dusty old bones and ship them to BA to be interred in this building, but alas, the Italian government said no.

Visit the building but do not take the tour. The tour itself is not well planned, uncomfortable, and worst of all it isn't interesting

Italian architect Mario Palanti was commissioned to design the building by the empresario Luis Barolo, an Italian immigrant who had arrived in Argentina in 1890 and had made a fortune in knitted fabrics. The basic design, in eclectic style, was conceived simultaneously with one for the Palacio Salvo in Montevideo, Uruguay. The Palacio Barolo was designed in accordance with the cosmology of Dante's Divine Comedy, motivated by the architect's admiration for Alighieri. There are 22 floors, divided into three "sections". The basement and ground floor represent hell, floors 1-14 are the purgatory, and 15-22 represent heaven. The building is 100 meters (330 feet) tall, one meter for each canto of the Divine Comedy. The lighthouse at the top of the building can be seen all the way in Montevideo, Uruguay. The owner planned to use only 3 floors, and to rent the rest. When completed in 1923 it was the tallest building, not only in the city, but also in the whole of South America. It remained the city's tallest building until 1935 when, on completion, the Kavanagh Building acquired this distinction. Dr. Erick J. Mann, PhD Professor of History and Fulbright Scholar

Other than the view, that's nothing much to see. To get the view, you have to climb 5 or 6 floors via very narrow stairs which we were not informed beforehand. It's not a place for people with bad knees, heart condition and weight issue. The view is amazing. They have a dinner and light house exhibition which I havnt tried. And it's a bit expensive compared with other attractions.

Hard to beat the view from the "lighthouse" at the top of Palacio Barolo. A guided tour from the ground floor ("hell") to the very top ("paradise"), involving two elevator rides and 8 flights of stairs, set us back 175 pesos. I thought this was a bit pricey at first, but the tour is in both English and Spanish and is the only way to experience this gorgeous 360 degree view of Buenos Aires. The guide explained that the entire building was an homage to Dante's "Inferno", with the different levels representing hell, purgatory and heaven. Apparently the architect intended to have Dante's body transported from Italy to this building, but it never came to pass. Note that the stairways get very narrow toward the top. On the way down the guide will show you a typical 1920's office. Unique Buenos Aires experience that is worth the price of admission. Go at sunset for the prettiest views. I believe the tours are on the hour.

I came here for the view more than anything. It's gorgeous at night. Tours are in English y espanol For the pregnant, elderly, lazy, disabled, injured, and physically out of shape- the last the 6 floors are only accessible by stairs - be warned. I'm fairly athletic and my back started to ache, but I'm one of the listed above. If you can climb Notre-Dame de Paris, this is nothing.

This building is a historic landmark and highly recommended in my Rick Stevens travel guide. They offer tours daily. The last tour is 6pm. The last 6 floors which take you to the rotunda are available only by stairs. I require a cane at times and I am great full that I brought it along. Even with the cane it took some effort to climb the stairs. For the accessibility reasons I knocked a point off. That being said, the building was built long before society started considering the needs of the handicapped. The architecture is beautiful.

For architecture lovers and enthusiasts of Dante's Divine Comedy the Palacio Barolo is an incredible place! And for all the others, the amazing view other the city from the top and the lighthouse is reason enough to join the guided tour. Moreover, the guide was amicable and translated into English whenever I couldn't follow in Spanish.

I'm giving the Palacio Barolo tour 5 stars because: Stunning building Knowledgeable tour guide Remarkable level of access We thoroughly enjoy our tour, which included walking up to the very pinnacle of the building, which is the lighthouse. Highly recommended!