THE TOWER OF THE PHANTOM

In La Boca neighborhood, in the triangle delimited by Almirante Brown Ave, Benito Pérez Galdós St and Wenceslao Villafañe St, there’s a curious building known as “The tower of the phantom”. It’s a kind of castle projected in 1908 by architect Guillermo Álvarez. The tower hides a water tank, the first one in this neighborhood, and -according to the legend- a phantom. Hostel Colonial tells you all about this great place.

The original building belonged to a local aristocrat (Miss Auvert Aurnaud) who tried to emulate a palace from the land of her grandfathers: Catalonia. She planned to make a building for rent (as many immigrants where arriving from Spain and Italy to Buenos Aires) but when she saw the final result, she was so happy she decided to move in. After a year, Miss Auvert and its servants left the building mysteriously.

Some people say they heard her and his servant crying out loud many times during the time the inhabited the castle. After leaving, she rented the place to five families of immigrants and artists. Clementina, a painter lived in the upper floor, close to the tower. A legend says when she was ready to finish her masterpiece, suddenly committed suicide. A photographer who took a picture of the work in progress said three strange goblins appeared in the picture... three goblins that do not belong to the work.

The photographer travelled to tell the story to Miss Auvert. She told her that, in Catalonia, they believed in goblins called follets, which appear after consuming hallucinogens funguses. Nothing was ever proved, but the Tower of the Phantom remains there, as a legend and a reality.