Photos: El Ateneo Grand Splendid, the world’s most beautiful bookstore | Hindustan Times
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Photos: El Ateneo Grand Splendid, the world’s most beautiful bookstore

Updated On Jan 15, 2019 11:01 AM IST

The National Geographic has named El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore the "world's most beautiful" in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Built in 1919 by Impresario Max Glücksmann as a tribute to the county and its music and film industry, for decades the building served as the capital’s most opulent cinema and theatre experience. Economic troubles in the 1990s and an extensive restoration later, the Grand Splendid is today consistently ranked among the world’s most beautiful bookstores. Here’s a look inside.

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A view of El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore, in Buenos Aires. In the downtown neighbourhood of Recoleta in the Argentine capital is the Ateneo Grand Splendid, a theatre converted into a bookstore and named the world’s most beautiful at that by the National Geographic magazine in its first issue of 2019. (Marcos Brindicci / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Jan 15, 2019 11:01 AM IST

A view of El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore, in Buenos Aires. In the downtown neighbourhood of Recoleta in the Argentine capital is the Ateneo Grand Splendid, a theatre converted into a bookstore and named the world’s most beautiful at that by the National Geographic magazine in its first issue of 2019. (Marcos Brindicci / REUTERS)

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Visitors take a selfie inside El Ateneo Grand Splendid. The bookstore is a result of extensive preservation efforts to save the nearly 100 years old theatre that the Grand Splendid once was, created by Impresario Max Glücksmann, a Jewish-Austrian immigrant and a pioneer of the country’s film industry, as a tribute to his adoptive homeland. (Marcos Brindicci / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Jan 15, 2019 11:01 AM IST

Visitors take a selfie inside El Ateneo Grand Splendid. The bookstore is a result of extensive preservation efforts to save the nearly 100 years old theatre that the Grand Splendid once was, created by Impresario Max Glücksmann, a Jewish-Austrian immigrant and a pioneer of the country’s film industry, as a tribute to his adoptive homeland. (Marcos Brindicci / REUTERS)

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By 1924, Glücksmann was also running a radio station out of the upper section of the 1,050 seater building and an interest in cinema led him to covert the live theatre into the most opulent cinema experience in Buenos Aires. (Marcos Brindicci / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Jan 15, 2019 11:01 AM IST

By 1924, Glücksmann was also running a radio station out of the upper section of the 1,050 seater building and an interest in cinema led him to covert the live theatre into the most opulent cinema experience in Buenos Aires. (Marcos Brindicci / REUTERS)

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A man walks inside El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore. Three ornately carved balconies hug the main stage at the end of the hall accompanied with gilded statues and marble columns. The fresco on the dome by Italian artist Nazareno Orlandi celebrates the end of the first World War. (Marcos Brindicci / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Jan 15, 2019 11:01 AM IST

A man walks inside El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore. Three ornately carved balconies hug the main stage at the end of the hall accompanied with gilded statues and marble columns. The fresco on the dome by Italian artist Nazareno Orlandi celebrates the end of the first World War. (Marcos Brindicci / REUTERS)

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While the building saw its last live performance in 1973, it managed to stay in use until 1991 as a movie theatre --the last screening ever held here was of Sam Mendes’ ‘American Beauty’. A suffering economy had all but brought the wrecking ball to the building until it was taken over by the Argentine bookstore chain Ateneo. (Marcos Brindicci / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Jan 15, 2019 11:01 AM IST

While the building saw its last live performance in 1973, it managed to stay in use until 1991 as a movie theatre --the last screening ever held here was of Sam Mendes’ ‘American Beauty’. A suffering economy had all but brought the wrecking ball to the building until it was taken over by the Argentine bookstore chain Ateneo. (Marcos Brindicci / REUTERS)

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After years of extensive repairs, the building opened in late 2000, its stars this time not on celluloid or stage but in the printed word. The bookstore today houses over 120,000 titles and has its theatre boxes converted into comfortable reading spaces. (Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Jan 15, 2019 11:01 AM IST

After years of extensive repairs, the building opened in late 2000, its stars this time not on celluloid or stage but in the printed word. The bookstore today houses over 120,000 titles and has its theatre boxes converted into comfortable reading spaces. (Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP)

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Most of the original interiors, including the frescoes, balconies, and the lighting of the auditorium has been preserved in its original state. The stage maintains a burgundy curtain in a nod to the Grand Splendid’s past but houses a trendy café instead. (Marcos Brindicci / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Jan 15, 2019 11:01 AM IST

Most of the original interiors, including the frescoes, balconies, and the lighting of the auditorium has been preserved in its original state. The stage maintains a burgundy curtain in a nod to the Grand Splendid’s past but houses a trendy café instead. (Marcos Brindicci / REUTERS)

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The stage also plays host to a live pianist during the afternoon and the acoustics of the hall help carry the music across the floors while patrons flip through books or grab a bite. The most popular among the Ateneo chain’s 40 bookstores, the Grand Splendid gets around 3000 visitors a day. (Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Jan 15, 2019 11:01 AM IST

The stage also plays host to a live pianist during the afternoon and the acoustics of the hall help carry the music across the floors while patrons flip through books or grab a bite. The most popular among the Ateneo chain’s 40 bookstores, the Grand Splendid gets around 3000 visitors a day. (Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP)

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The Grand Splendid bookstore’s extensive collection ranges from medicine to Argentine culture and Latin American art to Classical music. The bookstore houses the largest collection of books in Spanish in the country but has a surprisingly small English section at just 4,000 titles. (Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Jan 15, 2019 11:01 AM IST

The Grand Splendid bookstore’s extensive collection ranges from medicine to Argentine culture and Latin American art to Classical music. The bookstore houses the largest collection of books in Spanish in the country but has a surprisingly small English section at just 4,000 titles. (Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP)

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A man takes the stairs inside El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore. With over 700 brick and mortar bookstores in Buenos Aires, the Grand Splendid certainly makes for the best experience as a monument to culture and the arts. For those unfamiliar with the language but seeking out a title, the city’s other bookstores might instead prove more helpful. (Marcos Brindicci / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Jan 15, 2019 11:01 AM IST

A man takes the stairs inside El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore. With over 700 brick and mortar bookstores in Buenos Aires, the Grand Splendid certainly makes for the best experience as a monument to culture and the arts. For those unfamiliar with the language but seeking out a title, the city’s other bookstores might instead prove more helpful. (Marcos Brindicci / REUTERS)

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