Sights in Northern Chile
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Observatorio Turístico Collowara
This shiny new observatory is built for tourists; no serious interstellar research is conducted here, but the facility boasts a 40cm (16in) telescope for stargazing. Book at the ticket office in nearby Andacollo, and inquire there about transport to the hilltop observatory. Since the sessions are late, you can either stay overnight in Andacollo, or take an organized tour from La Serena.
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Cruz del Tercer Milenio
You won’t get to heaven on this ticket, but you will get a good dizzying view of the bay from atop the Cruz del Tercer Milenio, reaching for the sky above Coquimbo. A cross between a holy pilgrimage site and theme park, this whopping 93m-high concrete cross can be clearly seen from La Serena’s beaches. The cross contains a museum (largely devoted to the late Pope John Paul II), praying rooms and an elevator ride to the top. Mass is held every Sunday. The first level is free.
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Regional Museum
Iquique’s former courthouse now hosts the catch-all regional museum, which earnestly recreates a traditional adobe altiplano village (complete with mannequins in Aymara dress). The surrounding chambers also have some attention-grabbing exhibits, from animal fetuses floating in formaldehyde to masked Chinchorro mummies and elongated Tiwanaku skulls. Interesting photographs also explore Iquique’s urban beginnings, and a fascinating display dissects the nitrate industry.
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Naval Museum
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.
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Museo de Historia Natural
Museo de Historia Natural explores the region's ecology and paleontology.
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Tribunales
Tribunales was built as a result of González Videla’s Plan Serena.
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Playa Huaiquique
This beach is an exhilarating choice but the sea is warmer further north near Arica.
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Museo Histórico de Elqui
The Museo Histórico de Elqui has Diaguita ceramics and 19th-century bits and pieces.
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Museo Gustavo Le Paige
Even if museums aren’t your thing, make an exception for San Pedro’s superb Museo Gustavo Le Paige.
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Planta Capel
Two of Vicuña's biggest attractions, Planta Capel and Observatorio Comunal Cerro Mamalluca, are just outside town.
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Iglesia Catedral
The handsome neoclassical Iglesia Catedral dates from 1844; it also has a sobering museum of religious art.
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Basilica Corazón de Maria
Head south from the city center to the Basilica Corazón de Maria, a lovely Byzantine-style church built in 1913.
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Museo Arqueológico y Etnológico
On Av O'Higgins is the diminutive Museo Arqueológico y Etnológico, with decent exhibits on highland culture of the Atacama.
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Observatorio Comunal Cerro Mamalluca
Two of Vicuña's biggest attractions, Observatorio Comunal Cerro Mamalluca and Planta Capel (outside town), are just outside town.
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Art Hall
The Collahuasi mining company got it right when they built this small art hall, with rotating installations by local artists.
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Archaeological Museum
At the southern extension of Av Bernardo O’Higgins, the Catholic University’s archaeological museum focuses on the Norte Grande.
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Torre Reloj
The city's 19th-century swagger is hard to miss in the 1877 whimsical Torre Reloj clock tower, seemingly baked and sugar-frosted rather than built.
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Sociedad Protectora de Empleados de Tarapacá
The 1913 Sociedad Protectora de Empleados de Tarapacá is historically significant as one of the country’s first labor union buildings.
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Centro de Información Ambiental
Conaf’s Centro de Información Ambiental is 24km south of Pozo Almonte, with exhibits on the biology and ecology of the tamarugo and the pampas.
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Iquique English College
South of the plaza, Av Baquedano is lined with Georgian-style balustraded buildings dating from 1880 to 1930. Among them is the Iquique English College.
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Iglesia San Antonio de Padua
About five blocks east of the Mercado Centenario, the Iglesia San Antonio de Padua is worth a visit for its twin bell towers and star-encrusted ceiling.
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Asociación Minera Copiapó
The stuffy national monument Asociación Minera Copiapó, between Avs Vallejos and Colipí, is one of many buildings reminiscent of Copiapó's early boomtown era.
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Torre Bauer
Just off the Plaza de Armas's western edge, the eccentric Torre Bauer (1905) is a rusty-colored clock tower resembling a lanky toy castle; it was built by a former German mayor.
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Museo Regional del Salitre
Have a glance at the one-room Museo Regional del Salitre on the north side of the plaza, which has a haphazard assortment of artifacts from nitrate oficinas.
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Barrio Histórico
British influence is palpable in the 19th-century Barrio Histórico, between the Plaza Colónand the old port, where handsome wooden Victorian and Georgian buildings still stand.
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