Torre Monumental and Westminster Carillon Clock

Why is it significant?

Welcome to Retiro and the riverfront districts of Buenos Aires, beginning here in Plaza Fuerza Aérea Argentina before the stately silhouette of the Torre Monumental.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Welcome to Retiro and the riverfront districts of Buenos Aires, beginning here in Plaza Fuerza Aérea Argentina before the stately silhouette of the Torre Monumental. Originally christened the Torre de los Ingleses, this seventy-five-meter clock tower was a magnificent gift presented to the Argentine nation by resident British citizens to commemorate the 1910 Centennial of the May Revolution. Designed by British architect Ambrose Poynter and inaugurated in May 1916, the tower was constructed entirely from red bricks, limestone ashlars, and ornamental terracotta transported directly across the Atlantic Ocean on British freighters.

Look closely at the carved stone lintels above the main entrance: sculpted reliefs display the royal heraldic emblems of Great Britain, including the English Tudor rose, the Scottish thistle, the Welsh dragon, and the Irish shamrock.

At the summit of the tower hangs a colossal clock mechanism crafted by the legendary Gillett and Johnston foundry in Croydon, England. Operating four four-meter opaline dials, the clock mechanism is an exact miniature version of Big Ben in London, regulated by a five-bell carillon that chimes the traditional Westminster Quarters across the bustling railway terminals of Retiro every fifteen minutes. Following the 1982 Falklands War, known in Argentina as the Guerra de Malvinas, the monument was renamed Torre Monumental. An interior elevator carries visitors up to a seventh-floor observation balcony, where you can gaze down upon the convergence of historic railway yards, passenger docks, and the glittering towers of Catalinas Norte.

Gazing up at the red-brick shaft crowned by its copper cupola evokes the immense economic and technical footprint of British engineers who built Argentina's national railway grid during the nineteenth century. Taking in the sweeping panoramic view across the busy avenue, one feels the vibrant pulse of a major transportation crossroads where metropolitan rail, maritime shipping, and civic history meet.

Walk north across the plaza to enter the grand passenger concourse of Estación Retiro Mitre.