Santiago, founded in 1541 by Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia, lies in a fertile valley flanked by the Andes and the Chilean Coastal Range. With a population of roughly 7 million, it is one of the largest cities in the Americas. 19th-century neoclassical buildings fill the downtown core, while several stand-alone hills offer sweeping views to the generally flat cityscape. Santiago also has much public art, both modern and historic, and also is known for its vibrant street art.
Before our most recent trip to Antarctica, we spent a day touring the city, taking in the scenery from the atop the modern skyscraper Sky Constanera and the hills Cerra San Lucia and Cerro San Crisobal. We also passed several historic buildings and checked out the colorful street are in the Barrio Bellavista, the city’s bohemian quarter.
We arrived in the city at 8:00am after a 9.5-hour flight from Dallas, dropped our bags of at our hotel, the Ritz-Carlton, then had a light lunch on their terrace.
Our first stop for the day was Cerra San Lucia (cerra means hill in Spanish), a 206-foot (63m) hill and park in the northern part of the city where Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia founded the city in 1541. Two fortresses were eventually built on the hill, in addition to a church and Chile’s first astronomical observatory. At the park’s main entrance is the ornate Neptune’s Fountain, completed in 1903 and dedicated to the Roman god of the sea. We climbed the stairs alongside the fountain, then continued working our way up to the top of the hill for sweeping views.
Exiting the park from the north end, we encountered another statue of Neptune, this one also featuring his wife Amphitrite. Walking west along Merced, we passed the 18th-century Basilica de la Merced, with its prominent clock tower.
We returned back to the founding of Santiago at Plaza de Armas, the city’s central square. After Pedro de Valdivia founded Santiago in 1541, he that year assigned architect Pedro de Gamboa to produce an urban plan. The result was a square grid pattern centered around Plaza de Armas. Many historic buildings surround the square, the most dominant being the Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral, built between 1748 and 1906.
Another notable building in the area is the 19th-century Cuartel General del Cuerpo de Bomberos de Santiago, the headquarters for the Firefighters Corps of Santiago, along busy pedestrian-packed Paseo Puente.
En route to our next destination, Cerro San Cristobal, we walked through Barrio Bellavista, the city’s bohemian quarter, full of colorful street art.
Cerro San Cristobal rises 984 feet (300m) above Santiago, the third highest point in the city, and can be reached by funicular from the southwest. Atop the hill is a 72-foot (22m) statue of the Virgin Mary. Besides enjoying the views, we also stopped for a mote con huesillo, a traditional Chilean summer drink made with rehydrated dried peaches (huesillos), husked wheat (mote) and a touch of cinnamon. We exited the park to the east via the Santiago Cable Car, riding 3 miles (4.8km) to the Oasis station, where Jennifer posed in a giant STGO (Santiago) chair.
Our final stop for the day was another viewpoint, Sky Costanera on the top two floors of the 62-story Gran Torre Costanera, the tallest building in South America.
Walking the short distance from Sky Costanera to our hotel, we passed the modern sculpture Jardin by Santiago sculptor Osvaldo Pena Munoz. Back at the hotel we finished our day with a delicious dinner on the terrace at their restaurant, Estro Santiago.
Our routes around Santiago are shown on the interactive map below. Click here for a full-page map.
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