The Obelisco de Buenos Aires was inaugurated on May 23, 1936, to mark 400 years since the city’s first founding, designed by Argentine architect Alberto Prebisch. It rises 67.5 meters at the intersection of Avenida Corrientes and Avenida 9 de Julio, the widest avenue in the world, on the very spot where Argentina’s national flag was first raised in the city in 1812.
Visitors climb a short flight of steps to an internal elevator that rises seven floors in under a minute, followed by a 35-step spiral staircase to a viewing platform with windows facing all four cardinal directions for a 360-degree panorama of Buenos Aires. Guided visits, which include historical narration, run about 20 minutes and are best booked around sunset, when the surrounding avenues glow in the evening light.
The monument sits at the symbolic heart of the city, within easy reach of the Carlos Pellegrini, 9 de Julio, and Diagonal Norte Subte stations.