This palace is located in the heart of Parque Patricios, on Catamarca street and houses the structure of the Bernasconi Institute. Do you know the history of the palace that was built to be one of the most beautiful public schools in Buenos Aires? Discover the history of the first school palace of the city.
The Bernasconi School Palace: museum, theater and even a planetarium.
Inaugurated in 1929, the Instituto Bernasconi exists thanks to the inheritance of Juan Bautista Bernasconi, a textile businessman who donated his entire fortune to public education when he died. Bernasconi died in 1914 and left his fortune to the National Council of Education with the purpose of building a school palace.
Designed by architect Juan Antonio Buschiazzo, the building we know as the Bernasconi Institute has a classic European style, with wide galleries, marble staircases and ornate ceilings that recall the grandeur of French and Italian buildings of that era.
This palace has a 1200 m2 courtyard and classrooms, but more than a school palace, it is almost a world with walls: it also houses a geological and paleontological museum, a spectacular library, a planetarium and an indoor swimming pool.
The grounds surrounding the Bernasconi Institute also hide a natural treasure. In its large park there is an aguaribay planted by the expert Francisco Moreno in 1872, declared a National Historic Tree in 1940, a tree that is almost two centuries old!
The Bernasconi School Palace adds to the list of palaces in Buenos Aires. Although not all of them are schools, many house state offices and some even museums, which means that you can visit them and tour them almost whenever you want. The Decorative Art Museum was the Errázuriz Alvear Palace and the Palacio de las Aguas houses a museum with free visits.