Sights in Arica
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Iglesia San Marcos
Arica’s oddest attraction is also its most admired. The Gothic-style Iglesia San Marcos has a threefold claim to fame. First, it was designed by celebrated Parisian engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, before his success with the Eiffel Tower. Second, it was prefabricated in Eiffel’s Paris shop in the 1870s (at the order of the Peruvian president), then shipped right around the world to be assembled on site. Still more curious is the construction itself: the entire church is made of stamped and molded cast iron, coated with paint. That’s everything from its unusually thin walls to its pillars, beams and pointy arches; only the door is wooden. The resulting atmosphere is s…
reviewed
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B
Museo Histórico y de Armas
The imposing coffee-colored shoulder of rock, El Morro de Arica, looms 110m over the city. It makes a great place to get your bearings, with vulture-eye views of the city, port and Pacific Ocean. However, this lofty headland has a far greater significance to Chileans, for this was the site of a crucial battle in 1880, a year into the War of the Pacific. The Chilean army assaulted and took El Morro from Peruvian forces in under an hour. The story is told step by step in the flag-waving Museo Histórico y de Armas, which has information in Spanish and English. Look for plaques placed by ever military-minded Pinochet.
reviewed
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C
Ex-Aduana de Arica
Eiffel’s legacy in Arica does not stop with Iglesia San Marcos. He also designed the grand Ex-Aduana de Arica, the former customshouse. Prefabricated in Paris, it was assembled on site in 1874, with walls made of blocks and bricks stacked between metallic supports. Though it once fronted on the harbor, a century of landfill has left it 200m inland, facing Parque General Baquedano. Restored as the city’s Casa de la Cultura, it hosts a smattering of exhibitions and has an impressive 32-step wrought-iron spiral staircase.
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D
Plazoleta Estación
The 1924 German locomotive that once pulled trains on the Arica–La Paz line now stands in the Plazoleta Estación. On the north side of the Plazoleta is the train station, Estación Ferrocarril Arica-La Paz, which dates from 1913. There are no longer passenger trains to La Paz.
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E
Casa Bolognesi
At the base of El Morro, look for the blue-and-white Casa Bolognesi, which was the command center for Peruvian forces in the War of the Pacific, and later served as a Peruvian consulate for a time. It is currently being renovated and is closed to the public.
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