Things to do in Chillán
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Main Market
The city’s main market is split into two sections on either side of Maipón between Isabel Riquelme and 5 de Abril. On the north side is a covered section known as the Mercado Central, which contains cheap eateries and butchers stands festooned with strings of the longaniza (a spicy salami-type sausage) that Chillán is famous for throughout Chile. The open-air stalls on Plaza de la Merced form La Feria de Chillán and are taken up with a mix of fresh produce and local arts and crafts. Simple ceramics, leather huaso (cowboy) gear and wickerware are good-value buys.
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Escuela México
In response to the devastation that the quake caused, the Mexican government of President Lázaro Cárdenas donated the Escuela México to Chilĺan. At Pablo Neruda’s request, Mexican muralists David Alfaro Siqueiros and Xavier Guerrero decorated the school’s library and stairwell, respectively, with fiercely symbolic murals, now set within an otherwise normal working school.
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Museo San Francisco
Chillán's Museo San Francisco displays historical materials of the missionary order that, from 1585, settled in the area from Chillán in the north to Río Bueno in the south. It also includes letters from liberator Bernardo O'Higgins, who spent some of his childhood under the auspices of the Franciscan priests. The museum is in the church opposite Plaza General Lagos.
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Catedral de Chillán
On the northeast corner of Chillán’s main square stands the stark, modernist Catedral de Chillán. Built in 1941, its soaring semi-ovaloid form is made of a series of earthquake-resistant giant arches. The 36m-high cross next to it commemorates the thousands of Chillán residents who died in the 1939 earthquake.
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Café Toro Bayo
This popular student watering hole heaves with good-natured revelers on weeknights and weekends alike. Pictures of Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley oversee the pitchers of beer, and the Escudos and piscos are sunk deep into the night, accompanied by healthy measures of banter and buena onda (good vibes).
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Mercado Central
Pint-sized cocinerías (greasy-spoon cafés) abound in this atmospheric setting; the paila marina seafood stew is the big specialty. You can't miss row upon row of the longaniza (sausage), a Chillán specialty, dangling from the surrounding butchers' stalls.
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Fuente Alemana
If you arrive late, tired and hungry on a Sunday night, head here. Staple Chilean favorites, including salads and large meat dishes, are served in the upstairs diner until late daily. There's also a selection of sandwiches and küchen (sweet, German-style pastries) to snack on downstairs.
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Cocinerías del Mercado Central
The dinky eateries at the market specialize in local classics such as chupe (a rich fish stew) or paila marina. The longaniza (spicy salami) adorning the surrounding butchers’ stalls also appears regularly in the grease-slicked but filling fare.
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Feria de Chillán
The Feria de Chillán has a reasonable selection of crafts. Especially good are ceramics from the nearby village of Quinchamalí, but you’ll also see rawhide and leatherwork, basketry, weavings and the typical straw hats called chupallas.
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Fuego Divino
Stylish restaurants are thin on the ground in Chillán – perhaps that’s why the gleaming black tables here are always booked up at weekends. Or maybe it’s because the expertly barbecued prime cuts of Temuco beef taste so damn good. The perfect posh night out.
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Café Oliver
There are few frills in this branch of a small regional chain of cafés, but you get reasonable sandwiches at a palatable price. It's small and smoking is allowed, which may bother some. It functions more as a bar later in the evening.
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Centro Español Chillán
Cheerful bow-tied waiters dish out fine Spanish cuisine at this elegantly curved restaurant looking onto the central Plaza de Armas. Paella is the house specialty, but the chefs turn out a pretty mean longaniza dish, too.
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Arcoiris Vegetariano
Praise be – a decent vegetarian restaurant in provincial Chile. Filling lentil-and-bulgur-style set lunches are served at the back, while a café upfront does sandwiches and cakes, all to the tune of wind-chime and whale music.
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La Motoneta
Locals are unanimous: this is the best picada (cheap ’n’ cheerful restaurant) in town. Think rich, homey pies and stews (many cooked and served in clay bowls) just like the ones your Chilean grandma would have made.
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Santos Pecadores
Chillanejos with plenty of dash and cash pour into this chi-chi red-walled bar northeast of the city center for sushi, ceviche and lots and lots of cocktails. DJs keep things going till late at weekends.
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Casino Cuerpo de Bomberos
Families, office workers and groups of friends head to this basic restaurant on the 1st floor of the local fire station for colaciones (set lunches) at, well, fire-station prices.
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Centro Cultural Municipal
Chillán has a fine classical music pedigree – internationally renowned pianist Claudio Arrau came from here. Concerts, ballets and plays keep the tradition alive.
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Cine El Roble
A two-screen complex theater inside Plaza El Roble shopping mall that shows the latest blockbusters.
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Universidad del Bío Bío centro de extension
Movies are regularly screened here, with the occasional folk music performance thrown in.
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