Castillo Pittamiglio — the alchemist's castle

OVERVIEW

The Castillo Pittamiglio stands on the rambla in Punta Carretas, Montevideo, with a replica of the Victory of Samothrace on its seaward front. It was the home of the architect Humberto Pittamiglio from 1910 until 1966; he kept it permanently under construction, on the principle that it should never be finished, as a metaphor of life as a sea voyage and of the 'wet way' of alchemy. It is full of alchemical, Christian, Templar, Rosicrucian and Masonic symbols, narrow passages, doors that lead nowhere, blind windows and oddly shaped rooms.

HISTORY

Pittamiglio bought the land in 1910 from Francisco Piria, his mentor in architecture and in alchemy. He left the castle in his will to Willie Baker, husband of Josephine Baker, who declined it; it passed to the Montevideo municipality, served as the lifeguards' headquarters, then fell derelict. From 1996 the private builders' association APPCU restored it, opening it to the public in 2000; in 2015 it was ceded to the Gran Logia Femenina del Uruguay for 20 years.

REPORTED ACTIVITY

Legends surround it: that it held the Holy Grail between 1944 and 1956, that orgies and satanic rituals were held there, and that its owner walked the rambla at night in a red cape. His former alchemical laboratory is now the restaurant's wine cellar.

VISITING

Guided visits by day and night; the entrance is at Rambla Mahatma Gandhi 633, and the Montecristo restaurant-museum at Francisco Vidal 636.