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RIASS visits the oldest bookshop in Buenos Aires

Opened in 1785, the Libreria de Avila is the oldest bookshop in Buenos Aires. With its creaky staircases, hand-painted signs, threadbare furniture and knickknacks and curios that cram its display shelves, its worthy of Hogwarts.

Its also an elusive beast, being closed the first two times I tried to visit (both days were, admittedly, public holidays), but luck was on my side the third time.

So here you go. For your viewing pleasure, two levels (well, three, but the third was blocked off by piles and piles of books) of bibliophilic goodness. More info about the shop can be found here.

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So, what do you think? Does this one rival the El Alteneo shop I posted about a few weeks ago?

12 comments

  1. Oh! Oh! Oh! Gorgeous! It looks like it was worth the three trips to get inside. *adds to list*

  2. Stephanie /

    Fortunately theres a bookshop on every corner here, so I managed to keep myself busy even after the two failed attempts. This one is gorgeousits a huge mess of books stacked haphazardly all over the place. My kind of shop!

  3. Wow! What a great place to visit. If I could only fly to Buenos Aires. Sigh.

    • Stephanie /

      Its truly beautiful, but definitely a long way to fly!

  4. This looks like the perfect bookstore to get lost in. :D

    • Stephanie /

      Jami: its a lovely little place, and the comfy couches certainly help!

  5. The El Alteneo is definitely more stunning. I do love the old comfy feel of this one though. What am I sayingI love ALL bookshops. Great post.

    • Stephanie /

      This one had a lovely vibe, and I loved the haphazard way the books had been stacked aboutit was a bit of an adventure looking through the shelves!

  6. My mouth is actually watering right now. Thats not weird, is it?

    • Stephanie /

      Weird? Nah. Perfectly normal for a book lover, Belle!

  7. What a lovely bookstore! I bet you didnt want to leave Stephanie!

    • Stephanie /

      We spent quite a bit of time there, admittedly! There was another gorgeous one just down the road that Ill post about later today, too. :)