Sights in Middle Chile
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Museo de Colchagua
Along with dealing arms, Carlos Cardoen has made a name for himself as a hard-core collector. The fruit of his passion is the incredible Museo de Colchagua, the largest private museum in Chile. The collection includes pre-Columbian anthropomorphic ceramics from all over Latin America; weapons, religious artifacts and Mapuche silver; and a whole room of huasos cowboy gear. Steam-driven machinery, winemaking equipment and a re-creation of Colchagua’s original train station fill the huge courtyard, and adjoining display rooms showcase old carriages and vintage cars.
reviewed
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La Casa del Arte
The massive, fiercely political mural La Presencia de América Latina is the highlight of the university art museum La Casa del Arte. It’s by Mexican artist Jorge González Camarena, a protégé of muralist legend José Clemente Orozco, and celebrates Latin America’s indigenous peoples and independence from colonial and imperial powers. The museum also contains several rooms of paintings by major Chilean artists, and hosts regular temporary exhibitions.
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Sewell
Up to 15,000 people once lived at Sewell, an atmospheric ghost town 55km northeast of Rancagua. Between 1904 and 1975 it housed mining families from El Teniente, the world’s largest subsurface copper mine, and has been preserved as a monument to the copper workers and their way of life. Built on a steep slope at 2600m, its distinctive, brightly colored houses are connected by stairways rather than roads.
reviewed
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A
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.
reviewed
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B
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.
reviewed
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C
Galería de la Historia
Political correctness is clearly not a priority at the Galería de la Historia, where small dioramas representing local history gleefully celebrate the massacre of the Mapuche at the hands of conquistadores and pioneers. If you’re able to overlook such ideological undertones, the models themselves are vivid and fun.
reviewed
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D
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.
reviewed
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Reserva Nacional Río de los Cipreses
Set in the Andean foothills 40km east of Rancagua, this little-visited 370 sq km park contains a variety of volcanic landforms, hanging glacial valleys, waterfalls and fluvial landscapes. The park ranges in altitude from 900m to the 4900m summit of Volcán El Palomo.
reviewed
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E
Museo O’Higginiano y de Bellas Artes
Talca’s one and only sight is the 1762 house where Bernardo O’Higgins signed Chile’s declaration of independence in 1818. Known as the Museo O’Higginiano y de Bellas Artes; at the time of research it was closed for a total overhaul and isn’t due to reopen until late 2009.
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Parque Ecuador
Parque Ecuador is a narrow stretch of well-maintained urban parkland which runs along the foot of Cerro Caracol – walk up one of the two access roads (continuations of Caupolicán and Tucapel) to a viewpoint with great views of Concepción.
reviewed
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F
Museo Bomberil Benito Riquelme
Museo Bomberil Benito Riquelme, a tiny, quirky museum in the main fire station, is maintained by dedicated local fire-fighting volunteers.
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