About Us
For decades, the Barolo Palace has been part of the lives of Miqueas and Tomas Thärigen, directors of Palacio Barolo Tours. Their passion for the building began long before they established their company; it even precedes their own birth as it constitutes their family history.
It was their great-grandfather Don Carlos Jorio who, a few years after the Barolo’s inauguration, rented an office to use as his professional studio. And it was in that same space where the wine tasting of the evening tours began, back in 2004.
It was their grandmother, Amelia Jorio, who gave the Palace its lost statue in 2010, creating a replica of the Ascension sculpture (the one that was stolen and never made it to the Barolo’s inauguration). Her grandson, Miqueas, searched for decades for the original created by Architect Mario Palanti until, in late 2021, he found part of it more than 400km from the city of Buenos Aires. Together with his brother Tomás, they managed to recover it and exhibit it in the Museum Office visited during their guided tours.
Miqueas and Tomás not only have known the Barolo since they were children and it is part of their family anecdotes, but they were also the guides of the first tours that the Barolo Palace offered when it was a building that did not yet have the astonishing restoration that we appreciate today. There are countless, and also cherished, memories that they treasure of the first visitors the Barolo had. So much so that copies of The Divine Comedy or donations of period items still arrive at the Palacio Barolo Tours offices, because the public understood that their affection for the building is genuine and they want them to safeguard those memories of the past.
With the vision that they can always give more to the Barolo, it was on the 96th anniversary of the building when they donated the (life-size) sculptures of Mario Palanti and Luis Barolo. These sculptures are now part of the identity of the building, as well as the new Art Deco-style Information Center located in Barolo Passage, aesthetically aligned with the one that has existed since the early 20th century.
For years, they have also been the main cultural promoters of the Barolo Palace, generating the renowned “Light Events” (a cycle of art with free admission that took place in the Barolo Passage) as well as being in charge of organizing the anniversaries (“birthdays”) of the building, thus highlighting the importance of culture in the city of Buenos Aires.
Furthermore, drawing from their own expertise, the Thärigen brothers have introduced innovations that have enhanced the recognition of Barolo as a Buenos Aires icon, elevating its prestige both nationally and internationally: since 2015, every October, Dr. Miqueas Thärigen has led a breast cancer awareness campaign sponsored by LALCEC, causing the Barolo Lighthouse to shine pink over downtown Buenos Aires and joining the lighting, worldwide, of historical heritage buildings. On the other hand, Tomas Thärigen has implemented technological improvements in communication to propel this nearly hundred-year-old Latin skyscraper into the 21st century, in addition to proposing different ways to promote the building beyond our country.
Quoting the words of the Thärigen brothers: “Our mission is to ensure that visitors, upon completing our guided tour, are convinced that the Barolo Palace is on the same level as other world architectural icons and share their experience to enhance the building’s touristic and cultural value”.
