In the heart of Adrogué, Partido de Almirante Browm (province of Buenos Aires), the Castelforte castle does not go unnoticed by passers-by who circulate in front of its façade, on 1521 Rosales Street. The fact is that the mansion, built in 1874 by the engineer Italian José Canale , is inspired by a Byzantine palace from the 13th century, from the old Villa Castelforte, the birthplace of its creator.
Originally the castle was located in the middle of an extensive park criss-crossed by tree-lined paths -today bordered by Cerreti, Brown and Rosales streets-, where Canale also built a chapel, a ranger’s shelter and even an old magazine in the image and likeness of the original with two main entrances: Porta PrÃncipe, in front of Plaza Brown and Porta Brindisi, on the corner in front of Plaza Espora.
When its owner died in 1883 and his widow sold it to return to Italy with her children, the land passed through different hands until it was finally divided into parcels.
The most attractive construction sites are the tunnels that connected with the church and the train station, among other placesEugenio Cornacchione
“First it was bought by a man with the surname Miró, who later lost it in a legal dispute; then it went to auction and was divided into villas. One of them was acquired by Juan Ovando, who in 1890 was in charge of erecting the current construction on the old powder magazine, in the image and likeness of the original Castelforte”, explains Sandra Agis, director of Cultural Heritage of the Institute of Historical Studies and Cultural Heritage of the Municipality of Almirante Brown.
“The powder keg of the original fortress was called Venice. It is known, in a fortress like that there had to be gunpowder, weapons, muskets,” says Oscar Rincón , president of the Almirante Brown Native Association , a neighborhood association that works on the preservation of the historical heritage of the district and today has its headquarters in the Castle, one of the most visited tourist spots in Almirante Brown, where there is a museum and they organize guided tours (suspended due to the pandemic).
From the cobblestones that cover Calle Rosales, you can see the tall, narrow windows that contrast with the yellow of the walls, the exposed bricks of the façade, and the wide galleries. The interior of the castle preserves the wooden and ceramic floors, the stairs, the old lamps and some paintings that portray the beautiful landscapes of Adrogué.
Although the building, rebuilt around 1890, retains much of its original style, surely the most attractive point is a series of tunnels, of which only one can be visited, with an entrance to the building and a route of approximately fifty meters which, according to stories local, they would have communicated with the church, the Municipality, the police station and even the train station.
It is located at 1521 Rosales Street, in Adrogué and was built in 1874 by the Italian engineer José Canale Eugenio Cornacchione.
There is a lot of guesswork about the tunnels. Rincón reported that, according to what they say, “Canale traveled the 100 meters that deposited him in the square to launch cannon shots on national dates, although everything indicates that the idea of ​​the work was to recreate the catacombs.”
Another version maintains that the tunnel linked Castelforte with the La Delicia hotel , also built by Canale at the request of Adrogué, a well-known place because illustrious personalities such as Domingo Faustino Sarmiento or Jorge Luis Borges chose it to spend the summer.
“Theoretically, the tunnels linked the castle to the church, the Municipal Palace and the La Delicia hotel. The issue is that the tunnels were only preserved on the Castelforte property, because as the other lands were subdivided, as maintenance, they sank and were filled. What were the tunnels used for? Probably as a form of escape or shelter. Weapons were also kept, you have to go back to that time, back in 1870,” says Eugenio Cornacchione, neighbor of the neighborhood and photographer of the Ministry of Culture.
“People wonder why these catacombs, false witnesses appear who say they walked through the tunnels that went from the Adrogué station to I don’t know where; others say they went from the La Delicia hotel to a church that no longer exists. In short, there is nothing proven about that. On the other hand, the tunnel that we have half a block from Plaza Brown, which is the main square, does exist, and it is on the same property as the headquarters of our association,” Rincon says.
A pavilion that belonged to the property before the land was divided Eugenio Cornacchione
And he adds: “In the original castle there were these same catacombs that Canale later replicated on this property and were originally used for armed forces, armaments and in some cases also to bury people, according to the sect that was in that place. This The catacomb was found when the Almirante Brown Native Association bought the property in 1983. At that time, the castle was in a complete state of abandonment, without doors or windows, the only thing there were were crumbling walls,” continues Rincón, who claims to belong to a one of the oldest families in the district of Almirante Brown, settled in those payments around 1650, when they were known as the DÃaz del Rincón. He also says that the property where he currently lives preservesan ombú with 500 years of history, where Juan Manuel de Rosas drank mate. “I have the straws with which my grandmother’s great-aunts used to brew Rosas’ mate,” he concludes.
With their own mythology, the architectural monuments of the province of Buenos Aires treasure unsuspected secrets that are undoubtedly worth discovering in situ when you can get back on the road.
