The Giacoletti Building ( es, Edificio Giacoletti), also known as the Juan Romano Building ( es, Edificio Juan Romano), was a historical commercial building located in San Martín Plaza. In 1972 it was declared a historical monument of

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

. The building was destroyed in a fire on October 27, 2018.

History

The building, a project by the Italian brothers Rinaldo, Antonio and Guido Masperi, was built under the auspices of the Lima-based merchant Juan Romano on land destined for new buildings that would surround and embellish the space destined for a new square under construction, which would be later known as the San Martín Plaza. The materials used to build the peculiar building with a triangular floor plan and four floors, in an academic style with some elements of Italian Art Nouveau, were

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...

and

quincha Quincha is a traditional construction system that uses, fundamentally, wood and cane or giant reed forming an earthquake-proof framework that is covered in mud and plaster. History Quincha is a Spanish term widely known in Latin America, borrow ...

. Inside, the levels were connected by a European marble staircase. Being the first building erected around the future square, it set the style and height of other later buildings, such as the Hotel Bolívar, the

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón (Spanish: ''Columbus Theatre'') is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acousti ...

or the ''Club Nacional''. The building was originally known as the ''Juan Romano Building'' in honor of its promoter, but it was popularly renamed Giacoletti after Pedro Giacoletti's Italian cafeteria that operated on the first floor. In the 1940s the Art Nouveau ornamentation was removed, lightening its decoration, and turning it into a ''neocolonial'' building. During its more than one hundred years of existence, it housed different businesses, such as bars and restaurants. In the 1970s, Romano ceded the space to the ''El Cortijo'' chicken parlor. In 1972, the Giacoletti building was declared a historical monument of the city. Later the poultry shop moved to the Barranco district, and the ''Parrilladas San Martín'' restaurant was installed on the premises, a business that did not last long due to the Peruvian crisis of that time.

Fire

In the early morning of October 27, 2018, the building was damaged by a

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

that lasted three hours. On the first level of the five-story building was the ''Roky's'' chicken shop, which had been operating since the beginning of the year 2000, where it is presumed that the fire started. In addition, the building was the headquarters of a hostel. The fire would have started in a chimney flue and therefore spread rapidly to the upper floors. The building has remained empty since, still in a dilapidated state and without final demolition or reconstruction due to bureaucratic obstacles and financing problems. Currently, only the outer part of the building remains, although plans to rebuild it have been proposed.

References

{{coord missing, Peru Buildings and structures in Lima Demolished buildings and structures in Peru Buildings and structures completed in 1912 Buildings and structures demolished in 2018 Historic Centre of Lima

History

Fire

See also

References