Known as Paseo Obelisco, South and North, depending on the side you get in, this tunnel crossing the 9 de Julio Avenue is one of the more memorable street passages of Buenos Aires. Its construction was promoted by an excentric millionaire, forbidden writer of its time who lived a shady life. Hostel Colonial introduces you to the passage which appeared in Julio Cortazar’s short stories and Oscar wiinning movies.The North Paseo Obelisco was opened as a commercial gallery in 1960, although it was built in 1949. The same occured with the south side, opened in 1964. 50 years of existance built the fame of this Porteño underground which keeps some of its original stores (a leather goods shop, a clockmaker’s store and a shoeshine place), along with its special mystic which attracts millions of visitors.
His creator was Raúl Barón Biza, a millionaire in the beginning of the XX Century, son of plantation owners who also participated regularly in politics and literature. He had a provoking style, inspired by the Marquis de Sade, which caused the prohibition of his books, still impossible to find. Also persecuted in politics, this excentric character financed the construction of this passage that crosses the widest avenue in the world.
Barón Biza was later exiled and commited suicide in Buenos Aires, months alter the oficial opening of the passage. Before dying he burn his second wife’s face with acid after she asked him the divorce. The thrilling story of Barón Biza and the mystic of the passage attracted the famous Argentine writer Julio Cortazar who mentions it in his short story “El otro cielo” (The other heaven), and also inspired shots from the film “El secreto de sus ojos” (The secret of their eyes), which recently won the Oscar to Best Foreign Language Film.
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