Palacio de los bichos: the story of a love, a tragedy and a ghostly party

I would like to point out that in the book "Historia de los barrios de Buenos Aires", by the historian Vicente Cutolo, there is another version by the journalist José César Rodríguez Nanni regarding this legend: the Italian magnate never existed, nor did the bride and groom, nor the ghost, all characters of an urban legend, but the house was built for a "non sancto" purpose. That is to say that a brothel for wealthy people would operate there; a project that aroused the anger of the neighbours at the time, who surely shaped the legend to scare off those interested.

Now to the legend in question:

In the low-rise area of the Villa de Parque neighbourhood, a five-storey mansion with a dome at the top of the building emerges; the castle is known as the "Villa de Parque". Bug Palace and holds a rich history of love, tragedy and mystery. It is located at 3220 Campana Street.

The legend of this palace is well known by the neighbours of the neighbourhood, its imposing presence arouses curiosity in anyone who is not from the area and passes by. There is no neighbour who wants to dispel the doubts of passers-by who want to know the details of the building.

The castle was christened "Bug Palace"Originally, the building was ornamented with gargoyles in the shape of animals and bugs. The legendary history of the place goes back to the end of the 19th century.

Back then, a wealthy Italian living in Salerno named Rafael Giordano - descendant of the famous painter Giordano - and his wife Vittoria D'Olvilli decided to embark on the adventure of putting down roots in faraway America.

On this trip they took their young daughter Lucía with them and decided to go to Argentina. The Giordanos were well off and, after visiting various areas of Buenos Aires, they decided to settle in an area of country houses to the west of the city centre because it reminded them of their hometown; years later this area would be called Villa del Parque.

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

When Lucia grew up and her father urged her to go to university, she decided to study medicine. At that time, being a doctor was an assured future. A few years later, she realised that her vocation was far from medicine and she became interested in music, especially the piano. Although her father was reluctant about this decision, as he had great hopes of having a daughter who would become a doctor, it was his wife who convinced him that this career was not for his daughter and that she would develop to her full potential through music.
Lucia dropped out of university and went to the music conservatory to study piano. As was to be expected, she was an outstanding student and quickly learned to play the instrument. Those who knew her enjoyed the melodies she played with great passion.
At the conservatory Lucía met a young man who was studying the violin and who would become the great love of her life and the protagonist of the tragedy of this story. His name was Ángel Lemos, aged just 22, and after graduating as a pharmacist he wanted to devote himself to his other passion, the violin.

Ángel Lemos comes from a family from the centre of Buenos Aires, his father was the director of an important general shop at the time. He was a native of San Telmo, but the distances were no obstacle for the young people to converge in their love.
This relationship was quickly approved by Giordano, and in time, the Giordano and Lemos families formed a beautiful friendship through the courtship of their children. Lucia was an only child, but Angel had six more siblings, so the couple wanted - in the future - to form a prolific family, she because she had no siblings and he because he liked large families like his.

When the bride and groom tell Rafael of their decision to get married, he tells them that as a wedding gift he will build them a mansion near their house for them to live in.
He commissioned the architect Muñoz González to build a distinguished palace that could be seen by all the local residents. The five-storey mansion with balconies was finished before the wedding. For this reason Rafael decided to celebrate the wedding in the mansion itself.

The date chosen was the 1st of April 1911, that autumn night the temperature was pleasant and there was no threat of rain, so the party was pleasant and fun. On the dirt road, luxurious automobiles of the time arrived and a chauffeur in characteristic elegant clothes opened the door for the guests to enter the wedding reception.
Doña Vittoria was in charge of the details of the party, there were musicians who always animated the party, drinks and canapés, some said that it was one of the most important social events of the year.

The bride and groom were very happy, they had many plans together, she to form a new family and he to form a pharmaceutical business with the capital given to him by his family. Everyone enjoyed this romance, which was sometimes envied by some.
Around five o'clock in the morning the party was about to end, the car that was going to take them to the centre was waiting for them on the other side of the train tracks that were only thirty metres away from the mansion.

It is said that the chauffeur waited for them there because the tracks were raised on the dirt road where the mansion is located and the road at track level - where cars normally pass - was flooded by heavy rain in the previous days. The cars of that time had very narrow and fragile tyres and passing the raised tracks could damage the wheels, so it was considered easier for the bride and groom to cross the tracks than for the car to drive for miles to find a level crossing.

That decision would be the culminating one in the history of the bug palace. That night, it was a waning quarter so there was no moon to brighten the place, the romantic street lights were candle lights because there was no electric street lighting yet, so there was not much of a view.
The guests came out onto the balconies of the palace to greet the bride and groom who were in the street on their way to the car on the other side of the tracks. Among those waving were the parents of the bride and groom.

As the bride and groom waved, the South to Pacific train headed towards Retiro station. Although the station was nearby, the train was a freight train, so it did not stop until the central station. It was dimly lit because those carriages were not brightly lit.
Just as the bride and groom were crossing the tracks to greet the guests, the train hit them, leaving their remains scattered a hundred metres away. The guests were stunned by the tragedy, the porters and waiters who were at the exit rushed to where the victims were, but nothing could be done, both bride and groom died on the spot.

The train never stopped and the driver found out about the accident at Retiro station when the authorities went to look for him and informed him of what had happened. The train driver claimed that the engine was so noisy and there was so little light in the area that he never noticed the victims and the impact.
Rafael Giordano and his wife fell into a deep depression, as the happiest day of their lives became in a second the worst day of their lives. Their only daughter and son-in-law had died at their own wedding.

The newspapers of the time do not chronicle what happened because Giordano did not want any details of the accident to be told, his grief was 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 the bodies of his daughter and son-in-law with him to bury them in the local cemetery.
He felt such contempt for the mansion where he saw his daughter die that he resolved to wall 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 splendour.

Time went by and the area where the palace was located was being subdivided and houses were being built around it. Around the mid 20's a peculiar event happened in that neighbourhood. One autumn day a neighbour complained to another neighbour about 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 to another neighbour and he got the same answer. Once all the neighbours had been questioned, the conclusion was that either no one had thrown the party or one of them was lying.

Exactly one year later, one of the neighbours abruptly gets out of bed because loud music coming from the street was keeping him awake late at night. Warned that whoever is having the party might deny it, he decides to go out to find out where the noise is coming from. Other neighbours take the same decision.

They look for the house where the party is coming from and find no partying neighbours. They focus their gaze on the only abandoned place: the Bug Palace. To everyone's surprise, music was coming out of the place, and they could see some silhouettes of people dancing inside.
The train from the South to the Pacific continued on the same route as it did on that day of the fateful journey. As the train passed at the same time as the tragedy had occurred years before, the music abruptly stopped and the figures that had been seen moving disappeared at the same instant.

This was the beginning of several ghostly occurrences that were to take place over time. There were reports of a woman's terrified screams and noises in the palace, as well as specters coming through the walls. Another curse is added to this story, for Rafael Giordano's wish that the details of the death of his daughter and son-in-law should not be known was so strong that those who investigated and wrote about the event suffered strange illnesses or mishaps that did not allow them to continue with their work.
In the 1990s the building was renovated and the characteristic gargoyles that gave the palace its name were removed. Today it houses private homes and a large spa on the ground floor.

The Palacio de los Bichos tells such a strong story of the neighbourhood that its figure is stamped on the official coat of arms. And so the years go by and the legend is kept alive in the neighbourhood because despite being a story of tragedy and mystery, it is still the love story of Lucia and Angel, a love story of the neighbourhood of Villa del Parque.

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