El Ateneo

El Ateneo Grand Splendid is one of the most famous bookstores in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires. It is located on Avenida Santa Fe 1860 in the Recoleta district.

History

The building was originally built as a theater by the architects Peró and Torres Armengol for the client Max Glücksman. The decorative paintings and decorative figures refer to the armistice to end the First World War. In May 1919, the opening ceremony took place. Already in the late 1920s it was converted into a cinema in 2000 and even today the existing bookstore chain Ateneo.

The theater had a capacity for 1050 spectators, including were there, Carlos Gardel, Francisco Canaro, Roberto Firpo and Ignacio Corsini on. 1924 took the radio station Radio Splendid in the theater on its operation to transfer concerts out of the house. After conversion to a movie theater, the first sound films in Argentina there were shown.

2000, the building was renovated under the direction of architect Fernando Manzone and converted into a book and music shop. The theater seats were removed and replaced by bookshelves. In the former lodges is now home to the chair and browse to the former stage a café is housed. Constructional details of the theater and cinema time as the ceiling paintings by the Italian artist Nazareno Orlandi, the wood carvings, the crimson stage curtains and auditorium lighting remained. In spite of the rebuilding in the escalators were installed from the basement to the ground floor, the building still conveys the atmosphere of the theater, which it once was.