Palacio Salvo ( en, Salvo Palace) is a building at the intersection of

18 de Julio Avenue Avenida 18 de Julio, or 18 de Julio Avenue, is the most important avenue in Montevideo, Uruguay. It is named after the date on which the country's first Constitution was sworn in, on July 18, 1830. It starts from Plaza Independencia at the lim ...

and

Plaza Independencia Plaza Independencia () is the most important city square in Montevideo, Uruguay, laid out in the 19th century in the area occupied by the Citadel of Montevideo. In its center is a monument to General José Gervasio Artigas, and below it, his m ...

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. It was designed by the architect

Mario Palanti Mario Palanti (September 20, 1885 – September 4, 1978) was an Italian architect who designed important buildings in the capital cities of both Argentina and Uruguay. Life and career Born in 1885 in Milan, Italy, the brother of painter Gius ...

, an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

immigrant living in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, who used a similar design for his

Palacio Barolo Palacio Barolo is a landmark office building, located at 1370 Avenida de Mayo, in the neighborhood of Montserrat, Buenos Aires, Argentina. It stood as Buenos Aires' tallest building for more than a decade until the construction of the Kavanagh Bui ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Finished in 1928, Palacio Salvo stands high with the antenna included. It was the tallest building in Latin America for a brief period.

Overview

The site was bought by the Salvo brothers for 650,000 Uruguayan pesos. It was built on the site where the Confiteria La Giralda was once located, a place renowned for being where

Gerardo Matos Rodríguez Gerardo Hernán Matos Rodríguez (March 28, 1897 – April 25, 1948), also known as Becho, was a Uruguayan musician, composer and journalist. Becho was not attributed to this Uruguayan musician. The term Becho is given to another Uruguayan violin ...

wrote his tango La Cumparsita in 1917. At present, on that same historic site, inside Palacio Salvo, the Tango Museum of Montevideo is open to the public, and exhibits the history of La Cumparsita and of Uruguayan Tango. The original specifications, describing the details of the construction, describe a lighthouse at the top of the building, which was replaced by a set of antennas. The specifications stated “on the top part of the tower a lighthouse will be placed made by Salmoiraghi of Italy, with a parabolic mirror of , reaching approximately , and a rotating 100 amp lamp.” The building was originally intended to be a hotel, but this plan did not work out, and it has since been occupied by a mixture of offices and private residences. The building has a height of . While the set of antennas was at its top, its total height was . The antennas were permanently removed in November 2012.

Trivia

* The song "The Tower of Montevideo", included in

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual ...

's 2021 album ''

The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows ''The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows'' is the second solo studio album by British musician Damon Albarn, best known as the frontman of Blur (band), Blur and Gorillaz. It was released on 12 November 2021, by Transgressive Records ...

'', is inspired by this building.

References

External links

Official website
Buildings and structures completed in 1925 Palaces in Montevideo Art Nouveau architecture in Uruguay Art Nouveau commercial buildings Art Nouveau apartment buildings {{Uruguay-struct-stub

Overview

Trivia

See also

References

External links