Palacio Salvo
Eclectic 1928 tower on Plaza Independencia, visited by guided tour with the Tango Museum.
The Palacio Salvo rises from the eastern corner of Plaza Independencia, where Avenida 18 de Julio meets the old city. It was commissioned by the Salvo brothers, Italian-Uruguayan textile merchants, and designed by the Milanese architect Mario Palanti, who had earlier built the closely related Palacio Barolo in Buenos Aires. Work ran from 1922 to 1928. At about one hundred metres to the tip of its lantern the building was for some years the tallest in South America, and its silhouette became a symbol of Montevideo.
The design mixes Gothic, Renaissance and Art Nouveau motifs over a reinforced concrete frame, rising through setbacks to a domed tower that was intended to carry a lighthouse. Conceived as a hotel, it was completed as flats and offices and remains largely residential. Guided visits take in the entrance halls, selected upper floors, the roof terrace and the viewpoint. The site previously held the Confitería La Giralda, where the tango La Cumparsita was first performed in 1917, commemorated by the Tango Museum at street level.
Highlights
- Tower and lantern designed by Mario Palanti, completed in 1928
- Roof terrace and viewpoint over Plaza Independencia
- Tango Museum on the site of the Confitería La Giralda
- Eclectic facade blending Gothic and Art Nouveau detail
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