Edificio de la Aduana & Museo Naval

Lonely Planet review

Meter-thick walls enclose this haughty colonial-style customshouse, built in 1871 when Iquique was still Peruvian territory. Peru incarcerated prisoners here during the War of the Pacific, and the building would later see battle in the Chilean civil war of 1891. The Aduana houses a small naval museum with artifacts salvaged from the sunken Esmeralda , a plucky little Chilean corvette that challenged ironclad Peruvian warships in the War of the Pacific.

The ship was captained by Arturo Prat (1848-79), whose name now graces a hundred street maps, plazas and institutions. In an impassioned speech aboard the Esmeralda , Prat swore to die in battle and challenged his officers to also 'know their duty.' Sure enough, he was promptly killed, the ship sunk and the Battle of Iquique was lost. However Chile went on to win the war, spurred on by popularly published accounts of Prat's heroism.