As religious temples across most of the world, including the Vatican, increasingly rely on sustainable lighting, The municipality of San Benito Abad is a pioneer in the construction of bell towers that differ from the traditional ones; Bells were installed inside the Maure and Villanueva towers, which did not ring and were made of bronze, but illuminated with solar panels from the top of the Luis María Campos ravine. One of the two towers of the building will be inaugurated this Sunday, December 7th, by the religious community of the Palermo district, as soon as darkness falls and the brand new lights begin to shine among ancient trees, in anticipation of the celebrations of the Virgin’s Day.
“It is the first church in the world to have illuminated bells. It is a closed circuit, just for this structure, which is unprecedented in the world. There are thousands of illuminated towers, but what It doesn’t exist, it’s a bell that emits light instead of sound.and that the system is also powered by solar panels,” he said THE NATION The architect responsible for the work, Andrés Peña, on a tour of the structure, where the workers are working around the clock on the scaffolding to complete the construction work in a few hours Tower of the Immaculate Conceptionwhich is the furthest south of the city of Buenos Aires. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and its bell is also called “Immaculata”.
Each tower is 60 meters high and stands in a ravine 20 or 30 meters above sea level. For example, if you try to spot them while passing through Luis María Campos, it is almost impossible because they seem to hide behind the vegetation of the almost 20 meter high crowns of ancient trees that make up the complex Park designed by the first Benedictines at the beginning of the 20th century. “That is a Immersion Churchlooking from the inside out. This is how it was designed in the 1940s. It is different from other communities that can generally be seen from the town square,” Peña clarified.
As for the other tower, The Eucharist with its accompanying light bell called Bethlehem “will be inaugurated in March 2026.” That’s why we ask for people’s support to continue this work. Let’s remember that It is the second largest church in Buenos Airesto the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Barracas. In addition, in 2028 we will celebrate our 100th anniversary,” said the parish priest of San Benito, Martín Bracht, as he prepared for the inauguration that will take place this afternoon at 7:45 p.m.
“Choripaty“Community meeting for the benefit of temple work with hamburgers, choripane and a sweet table,” reads the sign on the wooden gate of the Villanueva 905 church, which is entered via a ramp. The bell tower will light up to commemorate the Day of the Immaculate Conception, which will be celebrated the day after tomorrowand it is one of the most important holidays in Catholicism. According to the priest “The anticipation of seeing the towers illuminated is great“Since 2015, we have seen the community tackle the task of completing the works.
The architect began by explaining the reasons why they chose this innovative lighting system: “Saint Benedict is considered a lighthouse“On the other hand, traditional bells are heavy and difficult to climb. Residents in other parts of the city often complain about the noise they make. “We have found that this is much more economical when we consider the cost, maintenance and operation.” Regarding the size of 1.50 meters in diameter, he commented: “It corresponds to the musical note Sol.” The bells of different churches have different dimensions depending on the notes. So that we have it The size of the sun is symbolic because it corresponds to the luminosity that our Lord radiates.“, he emphasized.
Both the architect and the priest pointed this out The bells don’t just work at nightbut also during the day when it gets dark. In this sense, you could say that they are similar to photocells that turn on and off automatically depending on the light.
During the tour conducted by LA NACION you could also observe how the… Mendoza stained glass specialist Félix Budgeresponsible for the restoration of the Teatro Colón and the Cathedral of La Plata, supervised the way in which the pieces of the renovated stained glass window at the front of the church, whose image corresponds to the medal of Saint Benedict, were assembled above. “Thanks to the financial donation of a couple who were baptized here and prefer anonymity, We managed to replace the previous glass that had an unreal drawing, it looked like Saint Benedict but was not original. “This is the largest stained glass window of our saint in the world,” the priest explained.
Since repair work on the church began in 2014 and after water leaks “$4,500,000 was spent. Each phase of the project required about $20,000 to $30,000 per month, but this final phase costs about $80,000 per month Viewpoints are very expensiveespecially due to the scaffolding rental, which forces us to hurry up so as not to have to continue paying the company. 30% of the costs are for the scaffolding rental“, Bracht explained and at the same time made it clear:”We are constantly doing things that move the hearts of believers. We need $400,000 to complete the second tower. We have great benefactors, There are people who contribute what they can and there are also others who help us simply through prayers. That’s why we ask you to support us in the following link“.
It must be made clear that, unlike other churches, there were never actual bells inside the church. What accelerated the ongoing work was when, in 2023, one of the crosses crowning the viewpoints was bent. Due to the rains, the inside of the iron drum corroded, causing the cross to break. This moment was crucial in the decision to complete the two bell towers and give each one a different name..
The parish of San Benito Abad was designed in the first half of the 20th century and currently it belongs to the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, while the rest of the block between Luis María Campos, Gorostiaga, Villanueva and Maure belongs to the Benedictines. Contains the original monastery and its gardenswith the exception of a private residence on the corner of Gorostiaga and Villanueva. The temple was designed in 1940 and dedicated in 1963 without being completed. According to the architect Horacio Boselli, it is “a jewel of the Romanesque style that began as a very ambitious project”. Boselli conducted extensive research on the parish and its Benedictine complex, which he believed represented an important cultural value for the people of Buenos Aires.
His story begins with Six Benedictine monks came from Spain who collected donations and land in the area where Palermo and Belgrano meet. Above the gorge and between two neo-medieval castles: Tornquist and Loreley, where the slaves of the Sacred Heart had settled, They dreamed of a monumental abbey temple plus a monastery where hundreds of monks live.
However, on Villanueva Street they managed to do something more modest and realistic: the Chapel of Santo Cristofrom 1924, and which is still preserved. The large church, on the other hand, “is late in its historicism, having been contemporary with renovations such as the parish of Fátima by Caveri and Ellis in San Isidro,” says Boselli.
Although it remained unfinished for decades, San Benito was popular for large celebrity weddings like Palito Ortega or Martín Palermo. “We have a seating capacity of 900 people. “We used to do about 90 weddings a year, then it’s 30 and now it’s much less because people don’t like to get married in a workshop in the middle and prefer to have the ceremony on the outskirts of the city,” the priest explained during the visit, clarifying this There they teach catechism to 120 children and hold meetings with 80 university students and 50 couples. There are also the activities of the bride and groom groups, Catholic Action and the Legion of Mary, which prepare young people and adults for confirmation.
Returning to the origins of the property, he said that in the early 1970s The 78 monks living there moved to the outskirts of Luján. Currently only one Benedictine lives in the monastery; a symbolic act of permanence in place. “You gave us the community and we manage ourselves independently,” he clarified.
A no less important fact is that the temple is located in the APH 39 district: “Luis María Campos Corridor Historic Protected Area between Olleros and Dorrego”. It is like that cataloged for its unique urban values in the city This protects it from the possible construction of apartment buildings in the area.
As the priest and the architect move quickly from side to side, paying attention to the final details, the neighbors and families gather in front of the church, looking at the towers above and counting the hours until the bells of lights illuminate for the first time one of the most symbolic and historic corners of the city of Buenos Aires.