Santiago de Chile - tourist attractions

In Santiago de Chile, attractions for every taste of tourists. Here, magnificent architecture, unusual natural beauty, many monuments, unique museums and many other attractions for travelers.

However, the Chilean capital is considered one of the most interesting and unusual among the major cities in the world. And therefore it is not surprising that tourists from all over the world seek to get here.

Architecture

It is safe to say that the main attractions of Santiago, Chile - this is an unusual and unique architecture that fills the city with a special atmosphere.

The main square of the capital is Plaza de Armas - the area of ​​weapons, planned even at the time of the founding of the city. Around it, as was customary at the founding of cities by the Spanish conquistadors, are the following buildings erected in the Baroque style:

Also on the square there is a monument to the founder of Santiago P. de Valdivi I - opened it in 1960.

The main street of the Chilean capital is Alameda, which means the Alley of Poplars. She also has one more name - in honor of the fighter for the independence of Latin American lands from the Spanish colonialists Bernardo O'Higgins.

In general, the architecture is quite diverse - if the main square is dominated by the Baroque style, then in other parts of the city there are buildings built in the style of neo-Gothic, modern and in other directions. Naturally, there are also modern buildings erected from metal, concrete and glass.

Describing Santiago, the sights of this city, on some tourist attractions and buildings, we will dwell in more detail.

1. The Basilica of the Virgin Mercedes . This building is located near the main square of the capital. The basilica belongs to the Catholic Church - it was built in the 16th century and is currently on the list of national monuments of the country. The basilica is beautifully architectural, painted in unusual bright red and yellow colors.

Originally, the basilica was erected in 1566, but earthquakes destroyed it - it took two times to rebuild the building - in 1683 and 1736. However - this, unfortunately, is a common practice for Chileans, because the country often suffers from destructive earthquakes. The last of the largest occurred in February 2010.

2. Church of San Vicente Ferrer . Another remarkable cult structure is in the park of Los Dominicanos, which received its name in honor of the Catholic order.

The construction of the church was completed in 1849, but only after 28 years there were installed bells - the bell tower is organized in one of two towers.

The church was seriously damaged by the 1997 earthquake and, despite the fact that restoration work is still ongoing, services are being conducted in the church.

3. The Church of Santo Domingo . The Dominican Church was built in 1747. Above the creation of a unique structure, with the most beautiful belfries, the famous architect, de los Santos, worked at the time. In 1951, Santa Domingo recognized as a national monument of the country.

4. The building of foreign affairs of Chile . Attention is also drawn to the Foreign Affairs Building, built more than 200 years ago - in 1812.

Next to it are currently located other important administrative structures, including the Central Tank of Chile, the building of the Ministry of Finance of Chile and others.

5. The Red House (Casa Colorada) . As already mentioned above, there are many interesting buildings in Santiago, built many centuries ago, but most of them were restored and rebuilt after 1900.

However, among them, a pleasant exception is the Red House - built in 1779, it completely retained its original appearance, suffering earthquakes from which the capital of Chile shuddered.

6. The National Stadium . The largest stadium in the country - today it accommodates 63500 spectators, although the record attendance is more than 85 thousand people. It was installed in 1962, when there were benches in the stadium - after reconstruction and installation of individual seats the capacity of the stadium decreased. Today the stadium is a full-fledged sports complex, in which, in addition to the football field, there are swimming pools, courts and closed halls.

The National Stadium was opened in 1939 and went down in history, both from the positive and from the negative side.

So, it was here that the matches of the World Championship of 1962 passed. In particular, in addition to the rest of the meetings, the final game and the match for the third place took place on the field of the stadium, in which the Chilean team won and achieved the best result in history, having won bronze medals of the world championship.

However, in 1973, after the coup by Pinochet, the stadium became a kind of concentration camp, in which more than 40 thousand prisoners were held.

Natural attractions

Interested in what to see in Santiago, Chile? Be sure to pay attention not to natural attractions.

Among these is the mountain of San Cristobal - it is run by a cable car. From the mountain offers an amazing view of the city. Also on the mountain there are a lot of interesting places - a bot, a restaurant, a zoo. On the mountain there is a statue of the Virgin Mary (36 meters high), which seems to hang over the city and protect it.

Note that in Santiago quite a lot of parks, which is not surprising for such a large city. The largest, covering an area of ​​almost 800 hectares, is the Metropolitano Park - it hosts various cultural and sports events, most of which are free. And because the Metropolitano is one of the most favorite places of rest for residents and visitors to the capital of Chile.

Among other parks of the city deserve mention:

Cultural Attractions

There are many museums in Santiago. One of the most interesting is the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art , which opened its doors only in 1981. It presents a large number of various archaeological finds, rare items belonging to the pre-Columbian era of Chilean lands. In general, the museum's expositions cover a period of 10 thousand years!

The museum of modern art , opened in 1949, is also attractive for tourists. In his expositions, many works of art, from the middle of the 19th century to modern creations. And not only Chilean sculptors, artists, but also foreign ones. Exhibitions of creators working in this or that direction are constantly held here.

Interesting will be the National Museum of Fine Arts , in which unique collections of paintings and sculptures are collected.

Cognitive will be a visit to the National Historical Museum , opened as far back as 1830, in which it will be possible to get acquainted with the history of Chile and the entire South American continent.

To the cultural attractions of Santiago, albeit with a sad history, it is worth attributing and Villa Grimaldi - it is here that throughout the 20th century creative people gathered.

On the territory of the villa there was a school, a theater. After Pinochet came to power, in the 70s of the last century, the military intelligence was based on the villa. Only after the fall of the bloody dictatorship did we know what was happening on the territory of the once creative place. At the moment it is a memorial dedicated to a difficult and tragic period in the history of the country.

How to get there?

And this is not a complete list of attractions of this beautiful capital - if you have the opportunity, be sure to go to the most beautiful Latin American city to get to know him personally.

To get to Santiago , you will have to make a transatlantic flight. Unfortunately, there are no direct flights from Moscow - it is necessary to make two or three transplants.

The entire journey will take at least 20 hours. The cost of the flight depends on the chosen flight and route. To save money, try to consider different variants of the flight. The price of a ticket may vary greatly depending on which airports the transplant is scheduled to fly to.