What does your local bookstore look like? Probably not like this one…right? El Ateneo Grand Splendid is a not-so-hidden treasure of Buenos Aires and whilst a bookstore might not usually be at the top of your list of places to visit as a tourist, you may wish to reconsider and take some time out of your day to explore this beautiful place!
Originally a theatre, El Ateneo Grand Splendid has broken several records, gaining its place as the largest bookstore in all of South America. It was named as the second best bookstore in the world by The Guardian in 2008 and the most beautiful by National Geographic in 2019.
The bookstore was opened in the year 2000, but the construction of the theatre was actually finished nearly one hundred years prior in 1919 and opened by Max Glücksmann in May of the same year. The building operated as a theatre until 1982, playing host to legends such as Carlos Gardel, Ignacio Corsini and Roberto Firpo; from 1982 until 1999, the space was used as a cinema.
Nowadays, the Grand Splendid operates as a bookstore, in the city which has more bookstores per citizen than anywhere else in the world, according to the World Cities Culture Forum. It is home to four floors, each as beautiful as the last. The lower floor is dedicated to children’s books and vinyls and DVDs; on the ground floor are thousands of fiction and non-fiction books; the first floor contains professional and technical books, and the last floor is dedicated to classical music. There’s also a small café on what used to be the stage on the ground floor if you get peckish!
Across its four floors, El Ateneo Grand Splendid possesses over 200,000 books, 10,000 movies and around 25,000 CDs and vinyls. Every year over one million people visit the bookstore and in 2020, up until March it was receiving over 3000 visitors per day!
In the period between 1999 and 2000, various options were considered for the future of the building, with some ideas being to turn it into either a car park or a church. Clearly, none of this came to be and instead the building was bought by Grupo ILHSA, with architect Fernando Manzone being placed in charge of its refurb. Despite the existence of both economical and political crises at the time, a whopping 3 million US dollars were invested into the project and it was completed within the space of a year!
How Do I Get There?
- By bus:
Number 111 (stop at Avenida Santa Fe 1731)
Number 12 (stop at Avenida Santa Fe 1865)
Number 124 (stop at Avenida Callao 993, walk one block North and turn left at Avenida Santa Fe)
Number 152 (stop at Avenida Santa Fe 1717)
Number 39 (stop at Avenida Santa Fe 1769)
- By Subte (subway):
Line D (arrive at Estación Callao and walk 3 blocks north on Avenida Callao, then turn left at Avenida Santa Fe)
Line H (arrive at Estación Santa Fe – Carlos Jaúregui and walk 6 blocks east along Avenida Santa Fe)
Have you been to El Ateneo Grand Splendid? Let us know what you think about it in the comments below, and feel free to ask any questions you may have!