Torre Monumental or Torre de los Ingleses is a clock tower located in Retiro, Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was a gift from the local British community to the city in commemoration of the first centennial of the May Revolution of 1810.
After the Falklands War, the tower was renamed Torre Monumental, though some still call it Torre de los Ingleses.
On September 18, 1909 the Argentine National Congress passed Law N° 6368, consisting of an offer by the British residents of Buenos Aires to erect a monumental column to commemorate the centennnial of the May Revolution.
An 1910 exhibition of project proposals at the Salón del Bon Marché resulted in the jury's award to Ambrose Poynter, nephew of the founder of the Royal Institute of British Architects. The tower was built by Hopkins y Gardom, with materials shipped from England.
The sudden death of King Edward VII on May 6, 1910, prompted Britain to cancel its delegation to the Centenary celebrations, and the cornerstone was not laid until November 26. The inauguration of the building took place on May 24, 1916 and was attended by President Victorino de la Plaza and British dignitaries.
The tower is built in Palladian style, the building is decorated with symbols of the British Empire and features the thistle of Scotland, the English rose, the Welsh dragon and the Irish shamrock.
The tower reaches a height of 75.50 m (247 ft 8+1⁄2 in) and has eight floors. There are clocks at the 35 m (114 ft 10 in) level, and the bells were designed in imitation of the ones at Westminster Abbey.
The tower is topped by an octagonal copper roofed cupola. Above the entrance there are the shields of Argentina and Great Britain and the inscription "al gran pueblo argentino, los residentes británicos, salud, 25 de mayo 1810-1910" ('To the health of the Great Argentine people, from the British residents, May 25, 1810-1910').
Bitterness over the defeat in the Falklands War triggered vandalism against the clocks at the time, and a dynamite explosion at the base of the tower, in November 1984 (though the monument sustained only minor damage). During the government of Mayor Fernando de la Rúa (1996-99), the tower underwent extensive restoration. Public access was restored and a glass lift to the 6th floor, utilising the original British machinery, was opened. The 6th floor features a small exhibition of elements of the original lift and a view over the district of Retiro, Retiro railway station and the Port of Buenos Aires; the clock pendulum is accesible on the 7th floor.
In 2006 the building was closed to the public for technical maintenance, though the building is occasionally painted with anti-British graffiti.
