What is a Cúpula?
In the late nineteenth century, these things started popping up in Argentina. If you run a search on duckduckgo.com for the word cupula with the word argentina, you will get something like the above screenshot.
They are literally everywhere. It all started as an idea to mark the corner of the block in a decorative way. As time went on, architects started to compete with a little bit of pride added into the mix. There are some that took on a Russian look, others an Arabic twinge and still others with a Spanish motif.
They became such a hallmark in the country that nobody has the heart to tear one down. I believe it is actually illegal to do so now in the twenty-first century.
This is a perfect example of it.
These structures are so common that I do not even see them anymore when I traverse the city. Note that there is yet another on the left, just down the street at the corner in the above photo.
The photo shows a time warp as a two hundred year old building seems to have materialized, replacing the front door of a more modern building. The other likely scenario is that the old structure was at the end of its life and they did not have the heart to turn the cúpula into rubble.
This gem is standing in Tribunales next to the supreme court and across from the Colón Theater.
This article is my own and the photos were taken by me.
