Palace of bugs: story of a love, a tragedy and a ghostly party

I want to make the caveat that in the book "Historia de los barrios de Buenos Aires", by the historian Vicente Cutolo, there is another version of the journalist José César Rodríguez Nanni regarding this legend: the Italian tycoon never existed, nor the boyfriends, nor the ghost, all characters from an urban legend, but the house was built with an "unholy" purpose. In other words, a brothel for wealthy people would work there; project that aroused the anger of the residents of that time, who surely were shaping the legend to scare away those interested.

Now let's go to the legend in question:

In the area of ​​low houses in the neighborhood of Villa de Parque, a five-story mansion with a dome on top of the building emerges; the castle is known as the Palace of the Bugs and keeps a rich history of love, tragedy and mystery. It is located at 3220 Campana Street.

The legend of this palace is known by the residents of the neighborhood, its imposing presence arouses curiosity to anyone who is not from the area and passes by. There is no neighbor who wants to clear the doubts of passers-by who want to know details of the building.

The castle was baptized as “Palace of the Bugs”, because in its origins the construction was decorated with gargoyles in the shape of animals and bugs. To know the legendary history of the place we have to go back to the end of the XNUMXth century.

Back in those years, a rich Italian who lived in Salerno named Rafael Giordano - descendant of the famous painter Giordano - and his wife Vittoria D'Olvilli decide to embark on the adventure of putting down roots in distant America.

On this trip they take their little daughter Lucía and decide to go to Argentina. The Giordanos had a comfortable economic position and, after touring various areas of the city of Buenos Aires, they decided to settle in an area of ​​villas to the west of the center because it reminded them of their hometown; years later that area will be called Villa del Parque.

Giordano began to do business and to increase his fortune. He immediately belonged to the Buenos Aires high society of his time, he could be seen in the Progress Club or in the luxurious Plaza Hotel having coffee and beer with his friends.
Rafael, Vittoria and Lucia Giordano lived happily in that area of ​​villas. Their daughter went to a school in Monserrat and always had excellent grades between primary and secondary, she was the pride of her father.

Lucía grew up and her father urged her to pursue a university degree, she decided to study medicine. At that time, being a doctor was an assured future. A few years passed and she noticed that her vocation was far from medicine and she became interested in music, especially the piano. Although her father denied that decision, since he had great hopes of having a doctor daughter, it was his wife who convinced him that the career was not for her daughter and that with music she was going to fully develop.
Lucia dropped out of college and went to the music conservatory to study piano. As she would imagine, she was an outstanding student and quickly learned to play the instrument. Those who knew her enjoyed the melodies that she played with great passion.
At the conservatory Lucía met a young man who was studying the violin and would be the great love of her life and the protagonist of the tragedy of this story. His name is Ángel Lemos, barely 22 years old after graduating as a pharmacist he wanted to dedicate himself to his other passion, the violin.

Ángel Lemos comes from a family from the center of the city of Buenos Aires, his father was the director of an important general store at that time. He was a native of San Telmo, but the distances were not an obstacle for the young people to converge in his love.
This relationship was quickly approved by Giordano, and over time, the Giordano and Lemos families forged a beautiful friendship through the courtship of their children. Lucía was an only child, but Ángel had six other siblings, which is why the couple wanted –in the future- to form a prolific family, she because she had no siblings and he because she liked large families like hers.

When the bride and groom inform Rafael of their decision to marry, he told them that as a wedding gift he is going to build a mansion near his house for them to live in.
This is how I commissioned the architect Muñoz González to build a distinguished palace that can be seen by all the residents of the place. The five-story mansion with balconies was completed before the wedding. That is why Rafael decided to celebrate it in the same mansion.

The chosen date was April 1, 1911, that autumn night the temperature was pleasant and there was no threat of rain, so the party was pleasant and fun. Luxurious cars of the time arrived along the dirt road and a chauffeur in characteristic elegant clothes opened the door so that the guests could enter the wedding reception.
Doña Vittoria took care of the details of the party, there were musicians who always livened up the party, they could not miss the drinks and canapés, some said that it was one of the most important social events of the year.

The couple were very happy, they had many projects together, she to start a new family and he to start a pharmaceutical business with the capital that was given to him by his family. Everyone enjoyed that romance that was sometimes envied by some.
Around five in the morning the party was about to end, the car that was going to take them to the center was waiting for them on the other side of the train tracks that was barely thirty meters from the mansion.

It is said that the driver was waiting for them in that place because on the dirt road where the mansion is located, the tracks were raised and the street that has the road at the level of the tracks – where cars normally pass – was flooded by heavy rain. in the previous days. The cars of that time had very narrow and fragile tires and passing the raised tracks could damage the wheels, for this reason it was estimated that it was easier for the bride and groom to cross the tracks than for the car to travel kilometers to find a level crossing.

That decision would be culminating for the history of the palace of the bugs. That night, it was the last quarter so there was no moon to lighten the place, the romantic lights of the street were candles because there was still no electric public lighting, that is why there was not much vision.
The guests came out to the balconies of the palace to greet the bride and groom who were in the street making their way to the car on the other side of the tracks. Among those who greeted were the parents of the bride and groom.

While the bride and groom greeted each other, the train from the South to the Pacific headed for the Retiro station. Although the station was close, the train was a freight train, so it did not stop until the central station. The lighting was dim because those cars did not have a strong light.
At the moment when the bride and groom were crossing the tracks greeting the guests, the train hits them, leaving their remains scattered a hundred meters from the place. The guests watched the tragedy stunned, the porters and waiters who were at the exit rushed to where the victims were, but nothing could be done, both boyfriends died on the spot.

The train never stopped and the driver found out about the accident at the Retiro station when the authorities went looking for him and notified him of what had happened. The railway man alleged that the machine was so noisy and there was so little light in the area that he was never able to notice the presence of the victims and the impact.
Rafael Giordano and his wife fell into a deep depression, as the happiest day of his life became a second in the worst day of his life. His only daughter and his son-in-law had died in their own marriage.

The newspapers of the time do not chronicle what happened because Giordano did not want any details of the accident to be told, his pain felt so private that he did not want to share it with anyone. That is why he decided to return to his native Salerno never to return, taking with him the bodies of his daughter and son-in-law to bury him in the local cemetery.
He felt so much contempt for the mansion where he saw his daughter die that he decided to board it up and not sell it so that no one would ever live in it again. That marriage was the only event where the palace shone in all its splendor.

Time passed and the area where the palace was located was being parceled out and houses were being built around it. Around the middle of the 20's a peculiar event happened in that neighborhood. One day in autumn, a neighbor complained to another for having held a party with loud music until late at night, when he told him that it had not been him, the recrimination was directed at another neighbor and obtained the same response. Once all the neighbors were investigated, the conclusion was that no one had the party or one was lying.

Exactly one year later, one of the neighbors abruptly got out of bed because loud music came from the street and did not let him sleep late at night. Warned that whoever is throwing the party could deny it, he decides to go out to locate the place of so much noise. Other neighbors make the same decision.

They look for the house where the party is coming from and they don't find any partying neighbors. They focus their eyes on the only abandoned place: The Palace of the Bugs. To everyone's surprise, the music came out of that place, you could also see some silhouettes of people dancing inside.
The train from the South to the Pacific continued with the same route plan that it did that day of the fateful journey. At the moment in which the railway passes at the same time that the tragedy occurred years ago, the music abruptly stops and the figures that were observed in movement disappear at the same moment.

This was the beginning of several ghostly events that would occur in time. There were reports of hearing screams of fright from a woman and noises in the palace, as well as ghosts passing through walls. Another curse is added to this story, because Rafael Giordano's desire not to know the details of the death of his daughter and son-in-law was so strong that those who investigated and wrote about the event suffered strange illnesses or mishaps that did not allow him get on with the job.
In the XNUMXs the building was recycled and the characteristic gargoyles that gave the palace its name were removed. Today there is a private housing building and a large spa on the ground floor.

The Palacio de los Bichos tells such a strong history of the neighborhood that its figure is stamped on the official coat of arms. This is how the years go by and the legend is kept alive in the neighborhood because despite being a story of tragedies and mystery, it is still the love story of Lucia and Ángel, a love story of the Villa del Parque neighborhood.

This is another of those stories that attract us so much because of its mystery and because it always leaves us wanting to know more, since, according to the saying "se non è vero, è ben trovato" (it means that if what is told is not true, it is well told).