Torre de los Ingleses
This Elizabethan-style clock tower, which some call the Argentine Big Ben, was a gift from the British community of Buenos Aires after building the nearby Retiro railroad station complex. At the turn of the 20th century, Argentina had vast natural resources like grain and cattle waiting to be exploited, but it was the British Empire that had the investment capability and technology to create Retiro and connect Buenos Aires to its hinterlands to get products to markets overseas. This, however, was always a sore point, and for years many Argentines felt exploited by Great Britain. Recently the tower was renamed the Torre Monumental, in response to the very common post-Islas Malvinas/Falkland Islands War renaming of anything associated with Great Britain, yet nearly all locals still call it the British Clock Tower. The monument survived the war unscathed, but a few years later, during an anniversary memorial service, an angry mob attacked it. They destroyed portions of the base and also toppled a statue of George Canning, the first British diplomat to recognize the country's independence from Spain. (It's now safely kept at the British Embassy.) The Islas Malvinas-Falkland Islands War Memorial was purposely placed across the street as a permanent reminder of Britain's battle with Argentina. There is little to see in the monument itself, save for a small museum of photographs. The main attraction here is the view: A free elevator ride will take you to the top floor with its wraparound view of the port, the trains, and the city of Buenos Aires itself. There is also a small Buenos Aires city tourism information center inside.
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