Santiago Highlights

~Sabine
Aug 28, 2020
3 min read

Some Background Before Highlights

Between October of 2019 to March of 2020, there were many protests occurring in Santiago, Chile. The match that lit the fuse was a raise in the subway fare compounded with the increased cost of living and inequality in the country. To read more about the protests click here. We went to Santiago in February of 2020, so we saw some of the effects of the protests on the city.

Where we stayed

We stayed at a hotel in the neighborhood called Belles Artes. It's close to Plaza de arms and right next to a few art museums. Its considered downtown Santiago but still quiet and walking distance to all the touristy neighborhoods. Our hotel had a very nice balance between modern and classic feeling.

The Sights

Time to go see the sights of the city.

Plaza de arms

Plaza de arms was about a 7 min walk from our hotel. It is considered to be the "main square" of the city. When we went to explore the town it was a Sunday morning during February (the summer months of Chile) so the streets were very quiet as everyone was out of town for summer vacation. It was nice to enjoy the quiet streets.

There is a map in Plaza de Arms of Santiago that you can see.

2. La Moneda Palace

The second site that we explored was the Presidential Palace. Now, normally you would be able to explore the grounds and sometimes even go into the palace to see the building. However, because of the timing, we went with the protests going on they didn't allow anyone into the ground so we had to admire the beauty from afar.

3. "Nueva York Street"

"Nueva York Street" is a street in Santiago that was designed to look like Wall Street from New York. Edificio Ariztia is a building in Nueva York Street that is considered the first skyscraper of Santiago. It is also the first building in Santiago to have an elevator. Edificio Ariztia survived after all the earthquakes and tsunamis Chile has endured.

4. Lastarria

We ended our tour of the sights in a neighborhood called Lastarria which is right next to Belles Artes. Lastarria is a quiet, "hipster" area with great restaurants, great street performances, and a ton of side-street markets.

5. Cerro Santa Lucia,

Cerro Santa Lucia is one of the many hills in Santiago with a castle on the top. This hill was very close to our hotel so we decided to give it a climb. The view at the top of the hill of the city landscape was great.

Art Culture

There are so many great museums in Santiago. We had trouble choosing just one to go to. We ended up going to the Museum of Pre Columbia Art. There were a lot of Mayan and Inca influences that were included in the Chilean culture. The indigenous people of Chile are called Mapichus. There were some amazing works to be seen.