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Sunday, March 14, 2010

Librería El Ateneo Grand Splendid

Photo by Bob Krist for National Geographic Traveler.
Bueno Aires's Librería El Ateneo Grand Splendid used to be a beautiful movie palace. Saved from the wrecker's ball, it is now one of the most majestic bookstores I've ever clapped eyes upon, a veritable temple to books.
El Ateneo Grand Splendid in downtown Buenos Aires is a spectacular bookstore that retains all the glamour of its former life as a 1920s movie palace, with the original balconies, painted ceilings, ornate carvings and crimson stage curtains. 
The Guardian named El Ateneo as one of the top ten bookshops in the world (along with Secret Headquarters): 'Where else can you sit in a theater box and leisurely read a volume of Neruda, or sip a cortado where Carlos Gardel once performed?'

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