Go through the monumental wrought iron gates that jealously guard the access to the noble building where the Argentine Foreign Ministryis the closest thing to taking a trip to the past in the time Machine that the British writer HG Wells imagined.
Once inside, with your feet on the old stone pavers that cover the oval patio, you can see a gallery of Doric columns where, at any moment, the outstanding figure of Mercedes Castellanos of Anchorenathe legendary owner of the three houses that make up the so-called Palacio San Martín.
Summit work of Spanish architect Alejandro Christophersen, were built at the express wish of one of the richest women in the country, so that her sons Emilio, Enrique and Arón would live in them, a well-to-do boy who “threw butter on the ceiling”. Perhaps the best known of his offspring for having gone down in history as a companion of Jorge Newberyin the first trip in a hot air balloon that crossed the skies of the River Plate in “El Pampero”.
Anchorena Palace
The santafecina, Mercedes Castellanos (1840-1920), widow of Nicolás Anchorena; She was a very prominent member of the Argentine aristocracy of the time. She had eleven children with her husband and when he died, she inherited a fortune whose approximate amount was four million pounds sterling, at that time. A devout, fervent Catholic, she had the Basilica of the Holy Sacrament erected (San Martín 1039, where her mortal remains rest), the Church of Our Lady of Mercedes in Belgrano, donated the main altar of the Cathedral of Salta and part of the facilities of the Conciliar Seminary of Buenos Aires. She exercised beneficence to such an extent that the Vatican, in recognition of her generosity, awarded her the noble title of Pontifical Countess and decorated her as Lady of the Golden Rose.
His wealth was so great that in “Fausto Criollo”, written by Estanislao del Campo, when the Devil tempts the protagonist, he states: “If he wants money he will have / my bag is always full, / and richer than Anchorena / with saying I want, it will be.”
Mercedes’ dream was to inaugurate the group of houses, originally called the Anchorena Palace, in 1910. She wanted to celebrate the Centenary of Argentine Independence with all pomp and circumstance and accommodate the Infanta Isabel de Borbón, the main guest at the official festivities, in her facilities. . Finally, this did not happen because the construction began in 1909 and took a few years.
The construction goes hand in hand with a great process of urban and social transformation of the city since, due to the yellow fever epidemic, most of the aristocratic lineages moved from the south to the northern neighborhoods.
The wealthy woman and her children lived there for approximately twenty years, until, in 1936, due to the financial crisis that plagued the lineage, they were forced to sell the luxurious property to the State. This was renamed San Martin Palace.
Lifestyle
“The rare mix between the patrician past of the Anchorenas and the present as the ceremonial seat of the Chancellery, makes the building a magical place. Above all, when going through the different rooms, decorated in an eclectic way, you feel that you are embraced by history”, says Visual Arts graduate Gustavo Derfler, who is in charge of guiding us through the framework of this small native Versailles.
The architect Christophersen’s design recognizes several sources of inspiration in French residences and is located in the trend called Beaux Arts, derived from the teachings and theories of the famous Parisian school. The organization of all the interiors is the usual one of this type of luxurious residences. Each of the houses has several levels, being the hall of honor with its main staircase, the main space. All the decoration reflects the high level of craftsmanship of the time it was erected. There is stucco and imitation marble, noble wood cladding, Slavonian oak floors with composé guards, majolica and wrought iron by the Zamboni workshops (curious fact, the Ukrainian anarchist Simón Radowitzky, murderer of the police chief, Colonel Ramón Falcón , was one of the workers who worked in that smithy).
But only a few original pieces of furniture remain, since most of the owners used to take their belongings with them when they liquidated their mansions. Thus, a grandfather clock, a Venetian-style table and two Chinese-made cabinets stand out. Works of art abound, most of them acquired in the 1990s, a time when the cultured Foreign Minister Guido Di Tella was in charge of revaluing the French imprint of the place. “The world promised to Juanito Laguna”, by Antonio Berni, one of the most outstanding paintings in the collection.
Open doors
“The idea is to open the Palace to the community, that this is not a space that only diplomatic officials pass through or intended only to be the ceremonial headquarters of the Foreign Ministry, but that it can gradually be more permeable to having a link with the community”, it states Paula Vázquez, Director of Cultural Affairslawyer, writer and alma mater of the “Lata peinada” bookstores in Madrid and Barcelona.
This is how the initiative called “The Cultural Palace” arose, which will take place in the halls of the building with musical proposals and meetings of writers and artists. The details of guided tours and programming can be consulted on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So that everyone has access to one of the most beautiful buildings in the city.
