Confitería del Molino, Art Nouveau coffeehouse in Balvanera, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Confitería del Molino is a pale stone building on the corner of Callao and Rivadavia avenues in Buenos Aires, its tall central tower capped by a slender fluted spire. Above the large arched entrance, metal letters spell the name and a black four-bladed windmill ornament projects from the tower. Floors of arched windows with small black wrought-iron balconies rise to the turret, which reaches 65 metres and holds stained glass lit from inside.

Cayetano Brenna, a confectioner, commissioned Francisco Gianotti in 1915 to design the building; the café opened on 9 July 1916 and the finished building, with its 65-metre corner turret, was inaugurated in 1917. After the 1930 coup a captain fired shots from one of its windows and the premises were wrecked, then a fire broke out; it reopened on 12 October 1931. Congress expropriated it by law on 12 November 2014, with 217 votes in favour.

Lawmakers from the National Congress made this coffeehouse their informal meeting place, gathering here to debate and negotiate over coffee and pastries. The spot became a symbol of how cafes functioned as extensions of political life in the city.

The building remains closed to the public as of 2026, with no announced reopening date. Access is possible only on guided tours, which must be booked in advance through the official website. The corner entrance with the metal "Confitería del Molino" lettering faces the intersection of Callao and Rivadavia avenues, opposite the National Congress.

Gianotti had every fitting brought from Italy: doors, windows, marbles, bronze handles, ceramics, glassware and over 150 square metres of stained glass. The German firm GEOPÉ built the reinforced-concrete frame, a novelty when brick and Catalan vaults were standard. Look up at the corner turret: its windmill sails once turned, and a 2010 campaign collected signatures to make them spin again.