North to South in Chile

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Saturday, 13 October 2018 - Walked around the center of Santiago beginning with the historic San Francisco Church, Chile's oldest colonial-era building with its Victorian bell tower and detailed wood ceilings, then wandered the Plaza de Armas to see the Metropolitan Cathedral and former Presidential Palace, explored the Church of St. Augustine, and spent a long visit at the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art admiring ancient artifacts before enjoying more of the city's historic streets and public squares.

chilie2018 — The church was consecrated in 1622. The bell tower was destroyed by an earthquake in 1647, while the rest of the building stood. In 1730, another earthquake badly damaged the rebuilt tower, which was demolished in 1751. The current bell tower is of Victorian architecture and was constructed in the mid-1800s.

chilie2018 — In the sanctuary note the coffered ceiling of the central nave of the Church.

chilie2018 — The wood ceilings are detailed and painted with religious scenes.

chilie2018 — The image of the Virgin del Socorro. so much venerated throughout the new Colony and is enthroned in the church's high altar.

chilie2018 — Pedro de Valdivia brought with his colonizing expedition an image of the Virgin del Socorro. His hosts the founder of Santiago, attributed the survival of many the indigenous attacks to the possession of this iconography.

The relic is housed in this chapel protected in the case. The faithful come here regularly to pray for safe travels.

chilie2018 — Statue in the church

chilie2018 — The old monastery houses some common rooms and a museum - many paintings and artifacts.

chilie2018 — You can see tile work in the cloister of the church. The walls are very thick adobe through which you see the material in the cracks.

chilie2018 — An old weathered door.

chilie2018 — The cloister patio.

chilie2018 — Detail of the coffered ceiling.

chilie2018 — In the middle of the grounds were a peacock couple and the male was displaying for the female.

The classic picture head on.

chilie2018 — I like this picture of the peacock from the side - such a pretty blue.

chilie2018 — From the San Francisco Church we walked toward the middle of the city. We passed the Church of St Augustine - the second-oldest church in Chile built in 1625.

Of course, we already saw the second-oldest church in Atacama so we are suspicious.

chilie2018 — Door of the Church of St Augustine.

chilie2018 — Post Office building anchoring one side of the Plaza de Armas, the city square. Unfortunately it was closed so we were unable to go in.

The site was occupied by a building that served as the Presidential Palace until 1846. Construction of the current building began in 1881 and was designed by Ricardo Brown. Its current appearance dates to 1908.

chilie2018 — Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago is the seat of the Archbishop of Santiago de Chile and the center of the archdiocese of Santiago de Chile. Construction of the neoclassical cathedral began in 1748 and ended in 1800, further alterations ordered at the end of the 19th century give it its present appearance. Previous cathedrals in the archdiocese had been destroyed by earthquakes.

This beautiful building is also on the Plaza de Armas.

chilie2018 — Inside the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago are beautiful paintings.

chilie2018 — Just one of the many paintings on the ceiling.

chilie2018 — Church door to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago.

chilie2018 — Fence around a very ornate Former National Congress Building.

chilie2018 — Congress met in the Former National Congress Building until Salvador Allende's socialist government was overthrown by Augusto Pinochet's military coup on September 11, 1973.

chilie2018 — The Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art is an art museum dedicated to the study and display of pre-Columbian artworks and artifacts from Central and South America.

From 1470, is an Inca Quipu an ancient Inca device for taking measurements, which consist of variously colored threads knotted in different ways.

chilie2018 — The museum was great - a nice collection and easy to walk through.

There were a few mummies.

chilie2018 — Virginia Ann admiring a pre-Colombian pot.

chilie2018 — Hundreds of pre-Colombian artifacts in the museum. We spent a lot of time on these two floors.

chilie2018 — Santiago City Court

chilie2018 — The National Historical Museum - also closed on the day we were there.

chilie2018 — A fountain in the center of the Plaza de Armas which is a monument to Simon Bolivar.

chilie2018 — Simon Bolivar was a Venezuelan military and political leader who liberated what are currently the republics of Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru as sovereign states, independent of the Spanish Empire.

chilie2018 — A number of chess tables were set up on the Plaza de Armas and the competition seemed intense.

chilie2018 — A building on the edge of the Plaza de Armas.

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