Museum sights in Santiago
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La Chascona
When poet Pablo Neruda needed a secret hideaway to spend time with his mistress Matilde Urrutia, he built La Chascona, which he named for her unruly hair. Neruda loved the sea (but disliked sailing) so the dining room is modeled on a ship’s cabin and the living room on a lighthouse. Guided tours walk you through the history of the building and the collection of colored glass, shells, furniture and artworks by famous friends that fills it – sadly much more was lost when the house was ransacked during the dictatorship. The Fundación Neruda, which maintains Neruda’s houses, has its headquarters here and runs a swank gift shop and lovely café.
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Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino
Exquisite pottery from most major pre-Colombian cultures is the backbone of Santiago’s best museum, the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino. As well as dozens of intricately molded anthropomorphic vessels, star exhibits include hefty Mayan stone stele and a fascinating Andean textile display. More unusual are the wooden vomit spatulas used by Amazonian shamans before taking psychoactive powders. Note that though Sunday admission is free, groups of two or more are pressed into a ‘voluntary’ contribution.
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Museo Nacional de Historia Natural
If your kids have a taste for the bizarre, check out the dusty stuffed animals (we’re talking taxidermy, not teddies) in the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, where displays look almost as old as the fossils they contain.
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Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende
Picasso, Miró, Tápies and Matta are some of the artistic heavyweights who gave works to the Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende. Begun as a populist art initiative during Allende’s presidency – and named in his honor – the incredible collection was taken abroad during the dictatorship, where it became a symbol of Chilean resistance. The 2000 works finally found a home in 2006, when the Fundación Allende bought and remodeled this grand old townhouse. The permanent collection sometimes goes on tour and is replaced by temporary exhibitions, and there’s a darkened room with an eerie display of Allende’s personal effects. Guided tours visit the basement, where you can s…
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Museo de Artes Visuales
Exposed concrete, stripped wood and glass are the materials local architect Cristián Undurraga chose for the stunningly simple Museo de Artes Visuales. The contents of the four open-plan galleries are as winsome as the building: top-notch modern engravings, sculptures, paintings and photography form the regularly changing temporary exhibitions. Admission includes the Museo Arqueológico de Santiago, tucked away on the top floor. The low-lighted room with dark stone walls and floors makes an atmospheric backdrop for a small but quality collection of Diaguita, San Pedro and Molle ceramics, Mapuche jewelry and Easter Island carvings.
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Museo Histórico Nacional
Colonial furniture, weapons, paintings, historical objects and models chart Chile’s colonial and republican history at the Museo Histórico Nacional. After a perfunctory nod to pre-Colombian culture, the ground floor covers the conquest and colony. Upstairs goes from independence through Chile’s industrial revolution right up to the 1973 military coup but no further – Allende’s broken glasses are the chilling final exhibit. The Spanish-only explanations are only helpful if you’ve taken Chilean History 101, but English versions of the texts sell for CH$100 at the ticket counter.
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Museo Colonial de San Francisco
Alongside Iglesia de San Francisco is the Museo Colonial de San Francisco. The dark and dusty rooms contain 17th-century colonial ecclesiastical art, as well as a creepy collection of whips and scourges used for penitential self-flagellation. A small room is rather randomly dedicated to poet Gabriela Mistral and includes correspondence and a replica of her Nobel medal. What the staff are most proud of, however, is their pet chicken, Martín, who patrols the palm- and creeper-filled courtyard.
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Museo de Ciencia y Tecnología
In the middle of Parque Quinta Normal there's an artificial lagoon where you can rent rowboats. Beyond the lagoon is the Museo de Ciencia y Tecnología, which has interactive exhibits on astronomy, geology and other aspects of science and technology.
Other museums in the park include the Museo Infantil and the open-air Parque Museo Ferroviario, which displays lovingly maintained steam locomotives.
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Museo de Arte Contemporáneo
Temporary exhibitions showcasing contemporary photography, design, sculpture, installations and web art are often held at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo. Its pristine galleries are the result of extensive restoration work to reverse fire and earthquake damage. Twentieth-century Chilean painting forms the bulk of the permanent collection.
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Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes
An excellent permanent collection of Chilean art fills the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, on the eastern side of Palacio de Bellas Artes. Look out for works by Luis Vargas Rosas, erstwhile director of the museum and a member of the Abstraction Creation group, along with fellow Chilean Roberto Matta, whose work is also well represented.
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Museo Arqueológico de Santiago
Admission to the Museo de Artes Visuales includes the Museo Arqueológico de Santiago, tucked away on the top floor. The low-lighted room with dark stone walls and floors makes an atmospheric backdrop for a small but quality collection of Diaguita, San Pedro and Molle ceramics, Mapuche jewelry and Easter Island carvings.
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Museo La Merced
When you need a breather from the Centro’s busy streets, drop by the Museo La Merced. Most people skip the main collection (it documents the history of the Merced religious order in Chile) in favor of the Easter Island collection, which includes a Rongorongo tablet, and the shady, plant-filled courtyard.
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Parque de las Esculturas
On the north side of the Río Mapocho lies a rare triumph in city landscaping: the Parque de las Esculturas, a green stretch along the river decorated with sculptures by noted Chilean artists. Trees muffle the sounds of the Costner Norte freeway, which runs through a tunnel beneath the park.
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Museo del Huaso
Full-size replicas of rural buildings appear in the park's El Pueblito, along with a clutch of cheap restaurants. The Museo del Huaso honors Chile's cowboys and has an impressive poncho and hat collection.
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Museo Interactivo Mirador
The stimulus is more intellectual – but still fun – at the Museo Interactivo Mirador. Forget ‘do not touch’: you can handle, push, lie on, and even get inside most of the exhibits.
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Museo del Carmen
The historical and religious Museo Del Carmen is worth a look, especially for its detailed portraits of post-colonial Chile. It's a 45-minute bus ride from the center.
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Museo de Santiago
The sweetly amateurish Museo de Santiago has maps, scale models and dynamic pint-sized dioramas illustrating highlights of Santiago’s history.
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