The windmill tower
On the corner.
Richie Diesterheft from Chicago, IL, USA — CC BY 2.0 · Beatrice Murch from Buenos Aires, Argentina — CC BY 2.0 · McKay Savage from London, UK — CC BY 2.0 · Leandro Kibisz — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Leandro Kibisz — CC BY-SA 3.0
The Confitería del Molino, the «Mill Patisserie», was Buenos Aires' most famous pastry shop and café, in a grand Art Nouveau building near Congress designed by the Italian-Argentine architect Francisco Gianotti, also behind the Galería Güemes, and opened on 9 July 1916. A tower topped with windmill sails crowns its corner. It was built with luxurious materials, many imported, from marble columns and panels to stained glass and artworks brought from Italy. The shop closed in January 1997, the building was declared a National Historic Monument that same year, and a long restoration began to bring back its splendour. The café is not yet open to the public, but free guided tours of about an hour and a half run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and the last Saturday of each month, with registration on its website in the last week of the previous month; places go fast.
On the corner.
Imported finery.
Splendour returning.
Corner of Callao and Rivadavia avenues, by the Congress building, Balvanera
Palace of the National CongressThe Palace of the Congress is the seat of both chambers of Argentina's parliamen2 minutes walk4.5
Café de los Angelitos (Tango Café)Café de los Angelitos, the «Little Angels' Café», is one of Buenos Aires' oldest5 minutes walk
Palacio BaroloPalacio Barolo is an office building on Avenida de Mayo that was, on completion 7 minutes walk4.7
Avenida CorrientesAvenida Corrientes is Buenos Aires's great avenue of theatres and the heart of i10 minutes walk
Palacio de Aguas Corrientes (Water Company Palace)The Water Company Palace is one of Buenos Aires' strangest and most beautiful bu12 minutes walkYes, on free guided tours booked through its website, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and the last Saturday of each month.