The Obelisk of Buenos Aires with an elevator

At the intersection of Corrientes Street, where the theater scene is concentrated, and 9 de Julio, the "widest avenue in the world" according to tourist guides, the 67,5-meter-high obelisk erected in 1936 "is the heart of Buenos Aires," architect Juan Vacas told AFP on Thursday from the top of the monument.

This is where former President Raúl Alfonsín closed his election campaign upon the return of democracy in 1983. In 2005, the obelisk was covered with a giant condom during an HIV prevention campaign. In 2020, Argentines mourned the death of Diego Maradona there, and recently it was used as a screen to project images of Pope Francis.

In 2022, when Argentina won the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, as millions of people converged around the Obelisk, some broke down the door and reached the top via the service staircase. "They were halfway outside with giant flags; it was quite reckless," Vacas recalls.

The four-person elevator takes 55 seconds to climb to the top, the equivalent of XNUMX floors. Thirty-five steps remain to reach the point from which the Rio de la Plata can be seen in the distance.

The tourism project, completed just over a month ago, represented a "great engineering challenge," Mr. Vacas said.

Listed as a national historic monument, the structure could not be altered, and all materials had to enter through the narrow access door.

"Everything was made in a factory. Assembled, disassembled, to be reassembled in parts inside the Obelisk, where there is little space," explained the architect.

The tourist offer is not yet open. Free climbs are being offered as part of pilot tests, and 25.000 people have registered to participate, the city announced on its Instagram account.