Where time hides between the towers

By Flavia Tomaello, https://flaviatomaello.blog/, Instagram @flavia.tomaello

There are buildings that tell a city. Standing between the river and the wind, they become witnesses of time. In Montevideo, that voice is held by Salvo Palacea tower that does not age because it is made of memory. For almost a century, it has dominated the horizon with the same solemnity of an old narrator who has seen all the stories pass by and still remembers them clearly.

Designed by Italian architect Mario Palanti and inaugurated in 1928, the Salvo was, for years, the tallest building in South America. Its unmistakable silhouette, a mix of Art Deco and fantasy, marked the urban profile of the city and remains its most symbolic point of reference. But beyond his height, what makes him unique is his soul. Every corner keeps a mystery, every hallway whispers a story.

Where the building stands today, there was the confectionery The Giraldaone of the most popular places in Montevideo at the beginning of the 20th century. It was in that room where, in 1917, it sounded for the first time «La Comparsita»the tango that would end up becoming the anthem of the Río de la Plata.
From that musical echo arose the desire to build something majestic, a tower that united history and the sky.

Palanti, the same architect who gave life to the Barolo Palace in Buenos Aires, he conceived the Salvo as his spiritual twin. Inspired by Divine Comedy of Dante, imagined a building that symbolized the journey of the soul: from the lower levels, which represented hell, to the upper floors, conceived as paradise.

The result was a work that surpassed any category. With its 95 meters, its dome silhouetted against the sky and its façade ornamented with alchemical and Masonic symbols, the Salvo was a manifesto of ambition and beauty. Born to be a luxury hotel and office buildingbut the economic crisis of 1929 frustrated the original dream. The project was adapted: the hotel never opened, and the tower became a labyrinth of homes, studios, workshops, shops and dreams.

Today, almost a hundred years later, the building is still inhabited by more than a thousand people. It is a small vertical city where artists, neighbors, musicians and curious people coexist. From its windows the plural soul of Montevideo appears.

The mysteries of the Salvo

As time went by, the Palace accumulated more than history: it accumulated legends.
Its corridors are said to be crossed by secret tunnels; that Palanti hid esoteric keys in his plans; that the tower, seen from the air, reproduces Masonic symbols. And although truth is confused with myth, everyone agrees on one thing: the Salvo has an inexplicable magnetism.

From that fascination was born the “Mysteries of Salvo” toura proposal of Peatonal Tours that allows us to explore its insides from an intimate and narrative perspective.
This is not a traditional guided tour: it is a sensory experience, a walk through the living history of the building and the city.

The guides—true urban storytellers—take visitors between floors and stairs, telling the secrets of its construction, the legends that surround it and the lives that inhabited it. They talk about Palanti’s dream, the echo of “La Cumparsita” and the times when the city looked at itself in its windows with pride.

At each stop, the visitor perceives something more than data: he feels the vibration of a place that breathes.
The sound of footsteps in the empty hallways, the smell of old wood, the gloom of the iron elevators, everything builds an atmosphere that borders on the dreamlike.
And when you finally reach the terrace, the silence explains everything.

From above, the river stretches out like a silver mirror, the domes of the Old City look like models, and the air has a glow only seen in Montevideo.
There, at the edge of the sky, the Salvo reveals its true mystery: its beauty is not only in the stone, but in the look it provokes.

Among the many stories that the building preserves, there is one that beats with special force.
In the underground of Salvo, in the exact place where it was The Giraldait works today Tango Museuma small and exciting space that preserves objects, scores and photographs of the biggest names in the genre.

There, “La Cumparsita” plays over and over again, as if the tango refused to age. Visitors can explore its history, learn about the young face of Gerardo Matos Rodríguez and understand how that melody composed on a napkin became one of the cultural symbols of the Río de la Plata.

The museum and the building form a perfect continuity: both were born from the same passion, both survived time.
Tango gave identity to the city; the Salvo, his silhouette.

A sentinel of time

Declared National Historic Landmark in 1996the Palacio Salvo is not only an architectural jewel: it is a living portrait of the Montevideo that was and continues to be.
Its façade, seen from the Independence Squareseems to dialogue with him Solis Theater and the Artigas mausoleum, forming a triangle of history and art.

Every hour of the day transforms it. In the morning, the sun casts long shadows on its balconies. At sunset, the stone turns copper and the dome lights up like a lighthouse.
At night, illuminated, it looks like a castle suspended in the air.

Those who visit it discover that there is no more human building. It is made of cracks, echoes, sighs.
The Salvo is not contemplated, it is felt. It is a presence that accompanies the city, like a grandfather who knows everything and smiles from his height.

Each capital has its symbol, and El Salvo is that of a city that chose sober beauty, everyday poetry and gentle silence.
From its terrace, the visitor understands that this is not just a tower: it is a metaphor.
It represents the dream of building something that transcends time, a work that connects earth and sky, history and desire.

Perhaps that is why those who visit it leave with the feeling of having been part of something bigger.
The Palacio Salvo does not impose itself: it inspires.
And while the lights of the square turn on and the drums of the South District begin to sound in the distance, the old guardian of the sky continues standing, looking at the horizon, as if he knew that he still has many secrets left to tell.

For the Buenos Aires–Montevideo route, Buquebús operates with 25 weekly frequencies, maintaining daily departures and multiple schedules per day.