Would you like to enter and tour the house where Carlos Gardel lived with his mother Berta and his uncles? It’s an experience you can’t miss. Today, the residence in the Balvanera neighborhood, where the celebrated singer lived from 1927 until his farewell to Argentina on November 7, 1933, is the headquarters of the Carlos Gardel House Museum.
It was inaugurated on March 4, 2003, to rescue, preserve, investigate, and disseminate the heritage linked to Gardel, his era, and the cultural industries in which he participated. In the covered courtyard of this building, when he wasn’t on tour, Gardel used to gather with his loved ones to enjoy the delicious dishes his mother prepared.
Since Doña Berta also began to travel and spend long periods in France with her family of origin, there were periods when the only occupants of this house were Gardel’s uncles, Doña Anaïx and Don Fortunato.
The museum’s rooms invite you to delve into Gardel’s life, from his early steps, his discography, filmography, to his last journey, where he lost his life in a plane accident during a successful tour of Latin America. The voice of the “Morocho del Abasto” will accompany you throughout the tour.
You will find it open on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, from 11 am to 7 pm, and on weekends, from 11 am to 8 pm.
Although Gardel was born abroad (it is still debated whether it was in 1890 in Toulouse, France, or in 1887 in Tacuarembó, Uruguay), he arrived in Argentina as a child and grew up in this neighborhood. During his extensive career as a tango singer, he recorded albums and filmed movies in Latin America, Europe, and the United States.
His mausoleum is located in the Chacarita cemetery. There is a statue of the famous singer smiling, dressed in a suit, with his left hand in his pants pocket and his right hand folded at abdomen level. Did you know what visitors’ custom is? Placing lit cigarettes there.
A bit of History about the museum
The museum was the residence of Carlos Gardel and his mother. It is a house that Gardel bought in 1927. It is located in the city of Buenos Aires, in the Abasto area.
After the death of his mother, Marie Berthe Gardes, whose name was Hispanicized to Berta Gardés, Jean Jaures’s house would have been auctioned or sold. In the early 1970s and for almost a decade, it was transformed into the tango house “La Casa de Carlos Gardel,” and was managed by a football leader, Virgilio Machado. It then passed through different owners, and in 1996, Argentine entrepreneur Eduardo Eurnekian bought it on behalf of Multimedios América with the intention of turning it into a museum. However, the following year, a presidential decree declared the house a National Historic Monument, and the entrepreneur abandoned the project to avoid, in his words, dealing with “bureaucratic mazes.” At the end of 2000, now from Aeropuertos Argentina 2000, Eurnekian donated the property to the city of Buenos Aires and contributed funds for its restoration.
The museum exhibits belongings and documentation of Gardel, among other objects related to the history of tango and Buenos Aires during the singer’s lifetime.
The museum was renovated by the General Directorate of Museums for its conversion into a cultural heritage of Gardel’s work.
In 2015, during the Night of the Museums, the 125th anniversary of Gardel’s birth was also commemorated at the museum. These tributes featured exhibitions about the great lyrical masters of the 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as dances and milongas.
In 2016, the General Directorate of Museums of the City of Buenos Aires decided to modify the space again to organize and present a new museographic and museological script, resorting to some original objects and copies of photographic material. Copies of some documents such as the birth certificate and the holographic will have been provided by the Municipality of Toulouse and the Notarial Museum of the College of Notaries of the City of Buenos Aires. The visitor is captivated by the eternally young voice of the Morocho del Abasto, which, present in every corner of the tour, accompanies the different moments of a life and a career that continue to awaken the admiration of those who know him as well as those who have just discovered him.
Where is the Carlos Gardel Museum located? How to arrive?
The Carlos Gardel Museum is located in the city of Buenos Aires, specifically in the Abasto neighborhood. How to arrive from the centrally located hotels in Buenos Aires to this museum? To reach the Carlos Gardel Museum from centrally located hotels in Buenos Aires, you can use various transportation options:
- Taxi or Rideshare: You can easily hail a taxi or use ridesharing services like Uber or Cabify from your hotel. Simply input the museum’s address into the app or tell the driver: “Museo Casa Carlos Gardel, Abasto.”
- Public Transportation – Subway: Buenos Aires has an extensive subway system, known as the Subte. You can take Line B (red line) to the Carlos Gardel station, which is right next to the museum. This option is convenient and relatively inexpensive.
- Public Transportation – Bus: You can also take a bus to reach the museum. Use the city’s public transportation website or Google Maps to find the best bus route from your hotel to the museum. Look for buses that pass through the Abasto area.
- Walking: Depending on the distance from your hotel to the museum, you may consider walking if it’s feasible. Buenos Aires is a pedestrian-friendly city, and walking allows you to experience the vibrant streets and neighborhoods along the way.
Check the following map with some important references:
