Place of the festive or demanding rallies of Buenos Aires, the emblematic obelisk of the Argentine capital is now visible thanks to an elevator which offers a panoramic view of the city.
At the intersection of rue Corrientes, where the theatrical scene is concentrated, and 9 of Julio, the avenue “the widest in the world” according to the tourist guides, the obelisk of 67.5 meters in height erected in 1936 “is the heart of Buenos Aires”, told AFP on Thursday the architect Juan Vacas from the summit of the monument.
This is where ex-president Raul Alfonsin closed his electoral campaign when the democracy returns in 1983.
In 2005, the obelisk was covered with a giant condom during a HIV prevention campaign.
In 2020, the Argentines cried there the death of Diego Maradona, and recently she served as a screen to project images of Pope Francis.
In 2022, when Argentina won the Football World Cup in Qatar, while millions of people converged around the obelisk, some have fractured the door and accessed up to the tip by the service staircase.
“They were half outside with giant flags, it was quite reckless,” recalls Mr. Vacas.
The elevator for four people takes 55 seconds to climb at the top, the equivalent of twenty floors.
Thirty-five steps remain to be borrowed to reach the point from which the Rio de la Plata is observed in the distance.
The tourism project completed just over a month ago represented an “big challenge” of engineering, assured Mr. Vacas.
Classified national historic monument, the structure could not be modified, and all the materials had to enter by the narrow access door.
“Everything was done in a factory. Mounted, dismantled, to be raised by parts inside the obelisk, where there is little space,” said the architect.
The tourist offer is not yet open. Free climbs are offered as part of pilot tests and 25,000 people are registered to participate, the city said on its Instagram account.
