Palacio Barolo Tours – All You Need To Know For A Visit in 2025

Planning for Palacio Barolo Tours

When we first decided to visit the Palacio Barolo in Buenos Aires, we knew little about this historic and cultural structure.  But all of that changed after taking one of the incredibly interesting and informative Palacio Barolo Tours.

The tour describes the architecturally unique Palacio Barolo constructed from 1919 to 1923 by Louis Barolo who was inspired by Dante’s great work, the Divine Comedy.

Highlights of the Palacio Barolo

The Palacio Barolo Tours

If you want to visit the Palacio Barolo the only way you can do that is by taking one of the available tours.  That’s because this unique structure is a fully working office building.  

The Palace tour starts in the main lobby right in front of the ticket kiosk.  While most of the tours are in Spanish, you can book a bilingual tour, which is what we did.  In this case, the guide is fluent in both languages and will describe the features of the building and their significance, first in Spanish, then in English.  We found our guide to be quite thorough and understandable.

✅ Looking to combine this location with the other sights of Buenos Aires? Check out this tour that provides your ticket for touring the Palacio Barolo along with a full day of touring with a guide.

The Palace

While the Barolo Palace is inspired by Dante, the building itself has some interesting architecture that represents Neo-Romanesque and Neo-Gothic styles.  When it was first built it was one of the tallest reinforced concrete buildings in the world and the first Argentine skyscraper.  It is 100 metres high and has 22 storeys (not including the 2 levels in the basement). 

The building, designed by Italian architect Mario Palanti and built for businessman Luigi Barolo, tells the story of The Divine Comedy through its internal architectural design and numerology.  The height of the building at 100 metres represents the 100 cantos (poetic divisions) in the poem.  

The impressive structure is divided into three parts mimicking the three canticles of the Divine Comedy – Hell, Purgatory and Heaven.  The basement and the ground level of Palacio Barolo represent Hell and are full of dark imagery and grotesque ornaments of dragons and serpents. Originally the glass panels in the floor even had red lights coming from underneath to give the appearance of fire down below.

The marble tiles in the lobby feature motifs of chain links that run across the floor and up the walls.  These chain motifs are coloured red, white and green – the Italian Masonic symbol for Brotherhood.  9 arches on this level represent the 9 circles of Hell.

Storeys 1 through 14 represent the various stages of Purgatory with the imagery and decor on the walls getting progressively lighter towards the higher storeys.  Finally, levels 15 to 21 depict Paradise with more natural light flowing into the building.  The top level, storey 22 is the arched Domo housing the lighthouse where Dante finally meets God.

There are other numeric symbols associated with the palace including its address on Avenida de Mayo.  The current structure sits on a property originally occupied by 2 separate buildings.  By knocking down both of the original properties, the palace was able to use its preferred address – 1370 Avenido de Mayo.  

This was important and intentional because adding up the digits of the address gives a sum of 11 (1+3+7+0) and in Dante’s world, 11 is the number representing transgression.  The number 11 and its multiples are used throughout the symbolism of the palace.  For example, the building has 22 storeys and there are 22 balconies that adorn the front of the Palacio Barolo.

All of the materials, including the marble and the granite used to construct the building were imported from Italy.  

The only exception was the elevators, which were brought in from Switzerland in 1923.  The elevators are still in use and they are also significant as Barolo specifically wanted to have 7 elevators as 7 is one of the master numbers in Dante’s numerology.

We actually got a chance to take the elevator up to the 14th storey as part of the tour.

From there we had to climb up 115 stairs from the 14th to the 22nd storey since this is the only way to the top.  

We emerged inside the glass dome of the lighthouse where there is a large beacon that, when lit, is visible from up to 10 blocks away.  The beacon is illuminated every day for 20 minutes.  

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Best Views in Buenos Aires

The vista from inside the dome is stunning, offering 360-degree panoramic views of Buenos Aires sprawling below.  From here you can have an unobstructed view of the Avenida de Mayo and the nearby National Congress Building.  You can also see the iconic Obelisk in the distance.  

You also get a view out to the Rio de Plata, the estuary that flows to the Atlantic Ocean where, at its widest, it is 226 kilometres across making it the widest river in the world. 

The view from the top of this building in Buenos Aires is one of the best in the city and on its own would make the tour worthwhile.

Descending the tight spiral stairs from the Domo we stopped on the Palacio Barolo rooftop of the 21st floor.  

The terrace provides more great views of Argentina’s capital city.  From here we were also able to look back up at the glassed-in Domo and admire it from the outside.  

The peak is topped with a lily flower which is the symbol of purity and represents the platonic union between Dante and Beatrice whom he had met when he was a boy.  In his poem, Beatrice leads Dante through Paradise on his way to meet God.

At one time, the peak of the dome was adorned with the statue of a condor elevating Dante to heaven.  That statue called the Ascension statue, is no longer there, but a replica has been placed on the ground floor of Palacio Barolo near the main entrance.  

Palacio Barolo Office Museum

Several guided tours are available throughout the day and most last about 90 minutes. Our tour included a visit to one of the offices which has been completely decorated with antiques providing a glimpse into the working culture of 1920s Argentina.  

We found this to be a really interesting part of the tour.  The office has several ante-rooms, including a reception area, boardroom and library.  Each room contains vintage pieces of furniture and equipment that would have been used during the time.

The walls are filled with displays of old photos, memorabilia and articles describing life in the early 20th Century.

Outside and down the hall from the entrance to the office is a large foyer that leads to the floors below and above.  In the centre of the foyer is a display featuring statues of a man seated and a man standing.  These represent the designer, Mario Palanti and the owner Luigi Barolo.

If you are lucky enough to be able to take a night tour you will get to indulge in a glass of Argentinean Malbec from the Mendoza Valley in the office boardroom.  You may even get a chance to see a spectacular sunset from the large boardroom windows. But no matter the time of day it is a great view from the front balconies.

Our tour was in the morning so we didn’t get the glass of wine, but we did try on the 1920s period hats scattered throughout the office museum.

✅ If you are looking for other things to do in Buenos Aires check out our blog post on the top 27 things to do in this fabulous city.

FAQs

Can You Go Inside Palacio Barolo?

Entering the lobby is possible however to gain entry to the higher floors you must take a guided tour.

Why Was The Palacio Barolo Built?

It was built as a way to preserve Italian and European culture because Barolo believed the wars in Europe would destroy them.

How To Book Palacio Barolo Tickets

You can book the tour online, like we did, but that can be a bit of a complicated experience if you are a non-resident.  Foreign credit cards are not accepted online which means you would need to indicate wire transfer as your method of payment and then request a link from the administration for a Paypal link.  

You can also purchase a ticket at the ticket office in the lobby.  If you are in Buenos Aires for a few days you may want to do that in advance, especially if you are looking for a tour in English.

The Guided tours are operated every day except for Tuesday and are available during the day at 10, 12, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.  They last for approximately 90 minutes.

The Evening Guided tours are offered every evening at 7 and 8 except for Tuesday and Sunday.  These tours include a glass of wine in the office museum and last approximately 2 hours.

The Dante tour is a themed tour that features the virtual appearance of Dante highlighted by Ancient Italian verses.  This tour lasts for approximately 2 hours and is only offered on Sundays at 2, 4, 6 and 8.

The Borges tour is another themed tour lasting 90 minutes which is only offered every 2nd Sunday at 5.  This tour pays homage to Buenos Aires and its culture while featuring the poetry of Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges.

Palacio Barolo Price

Adult rates for non-residents are 16,800 ARS. There is a reduced rate for students and seniors of 12,700 ARS. Children under 7 years of age are free.

Fun Facts About The Palacio Barolo Attraction

The Final Word…Palacio Barolo Tours

Buenos Aires is our favourite city in South America primarily for its magnificent architecture that preserves the vibe of old-world Europe.  And one of the best ways to experience this is by taking a tour of the amazing Dante design inspired Palacio Barolo.

This Neo-Romanesque landmark has had such an impact on the history and culture of Buenos Aires that it was designated a National Historic Monument in 1997. 

This is definitely a site worth visiting so make sure to put one of the Palacio Barolo Tours on your bucket list when you visit Argentina!