In Argentina, huge moments and occasions are often commemorated at the Obelisk in Buenos Aires City. Sometimes visitors climb it, sometimes they stage events and more often than not, they simply surround it, drunk in celebration. Now, local residents and tourists alike can also ascend its impressive height, via a lift inside the monument, to enjoy a panoramic view of the capital.
Standing 67.5 metres tall, the Obelisco is Buenos Aires’ most recognisable landmark — akin to the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Statue of Liberty in New York.
It rises at the intersection of Corrientes Street – home to a thriving theatre scene that serves as a kind of local Broadway – and Avenida 9 de Julio, the dominating thoroughfare billed by tour guides as “the widest avenue in the world.”
Since its construction in 1936, the Obelisk has been a focal point for the celebrations and sorrows of porteños, as local residents are known.
“The Obelisk is the heart of Buenos Aires,” architect Juan Vacas, the Buenos Aires City undersecretary for urban landscape, said this week from the top of the monument after riding the new lift. “It’s the site of protests, the place where people gather.”
It was here that former president Raúl Alfonsín held his final campaign rally as democracy returned in 1983. In 2005, it was sheathed in a giant condom as part of an HIV awareness campaign. Five years ago, Argentines mourned Diego Maradona’s death there and more recently, it has been used to project images of the late Pope Francis.
Perhaps its most iconic moment came in 2022, when Argentina won the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Millions took to the streets to celebrate and some overzealous fans vandalised the Obelisk’s entrance, climbed the internal ladder and leaned out from its tiny upper windows to celebrate.
“They stuck half their bodies out waving huge flags – it was pretty reckless,” Vacas recalled.
The Obelisco – once hollow inside – now features a lift that accommodates four people and takes 55 seconds to ascend the equivalent of 20 floors.
The final stretch involves climbing 35 steps. From the tiny lookout at the top, visitors can see from the Río de la Plata all the way to the building adorned with the iconic portrait of Eva Perón.
The project, completed just over a month ago, posed a “major engineering challenge,” explained Vacas.
Because the Obelisk is a national historic monument, it couldn’t be structurally altered. All materials had to fit through a narrow doorway.
“Everything was built in a factory, then dismantled and reassembled inside the Obelisk, where space is tight. But above all, everything had to go through a very tiny door,” the architect explained.
The lift is not yet open for regular visits. For now, free trips are being offered as part of a pilot phase, and 25,000 people have already signed up, according to a post on City Hall’s Instagram account.
– TIMES/AFP
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