Visiting El Ateneo, a majestic former theater converted into a gorgeous bookstore in downtown Buenos Aires, really was on my List of Things to See Before I Die. Does that mean I’m now really one step closer?
No matter.
More specifically, this marvel of redesign is the El Ateneo Grand Splendid, named for the theater which opened its doors in 1919 during one of the Argentine capital’s major booms. At first a performance venue that hosted the country’s leading tango voices, it was converted into a cinema in the late 1920s and in 1929 screened the first sound films in Argentina before taking on its latest form as a bookstore in 2000 when it became the El Ateneo group’s flagship store.
Book-wise, it reminds me of a Spanish-language Barnes and Noble plopped into a large space, but the feel is overwhelmingly theatrical, elegant and nostalgic. Its 1,050 seats were removed to make room for shelves to hold some 120,000 books, but the ornate and palatial trappings, the painted fresco ceiling, stage curtains and other elements remain. The stage is now a café, and the theatre boxes small reading rooms where customers are free to read while they browse.
I did browse but didn’t buy a thing. I can’t remember the last time I did that in a bookstore. But staff didn’t seem to mind. One even suggested a few spots from which to snap a few photos.
Note that the selection is mostly in Spanish and made up primarily of standard chain store fare, but the setting – well, there’s nothing quite like it.
These were all taken with a GoPro Hero2, so the angles are obviously exaggerated. Dimly lit indoor settings are unfriendly to GoPros, but I think you’ll get the general gist.
24 Jan 2021 – Edited to add that El Ateneo has been placed at or near the top of many ‘Most Beautiful Bookstores on the Planet’ lists since its opening more than two decades ago, most recently in 2019 by National Geographic.
El Ateneo
Avenida Santa Fe 1860
Near to blurred junction where the city’s exclusive Bario Norte and Recoleta neighborhoods meet.
Monday-Thursday: 9am-10pm
Friday-Saturday: 9am-midnight
Sunday: noon-10pm
Note: This post was originally published on 24 January 2013 on my blog Piran Café, which is no longer being updated, and moved here, updated, on 23 January 2021. I hope that aspiring poet six pictures up has a collection available here now.