Santiago Sights

  1. La Chascona house

    Named after the unruly hair of the poet's widow, Matilde Urrutia, Pablo Neruda's shiplike La Chascona house sits on a shady cul-de-sac at the foot of Cerro San Cristóbal. Neruda was an obsessive collector and the contents of his house include a beautiful bar from Marseille, Bauhaus furniture and the poet's extraordinary library of books.

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  2. Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino

    The beautifully arranged Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino chronicles 4500 years of pre-Colombian civilization. There are separate exhibits for different indigenous cultures, each including breathtaking figurative ceramics and sumptuously intricate textiles and jewelry. Make sure you see the Chinchorro mummies, a product of Chile's indigenous culture, which are thousands of years older than the Egyptian equivalent.

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  3. Museo Colonial

    Despite its name, Museo Colonial is more of an ecclesiastic art display than anything else. The displays can be heavy going if you don't happen to be a colonial religious painting expert, but you can see a replica of Gabriela Mistral's Nobel Literature medal here.

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  4. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo

    Run by the Universidad de Chile's art faculty, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo was hosts modern photography, design, sculpture and web art displays. Check the website for the latest on the building work.

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  5. Museo de Artes Visuales

    The Museo de Artes Visuales displays fine modern Chilean engravings, sculptures, paintings and photography. Renowned contemporary Chilean artists such as Roberto Matta are showcased and exhibits rotate regularly.

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  6. Museo de Bellas Artes

    Museo de Bellas Artes has permanent collections of European art and an evocative section documenting Chile's development. There are regular exhibitions of contemporary international artists but they do tend to be small.

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  7. 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.

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  8. Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende

    This museum is a 1970s art time capsule featuring gifts from artists who supported the socialist Allende government. The main attractions include works by Matta, Miró, Tapies, Calder and Yoko Ono, and geometric art by lesser known, but still wacky, 70s artists.

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  9. Museo De Santiago

    Within the the ochre-colored colonial Casa Colorada this amateurish but engaging museum charts the capital's growth from its modest beginnings. Exhibits include maps, paintings, colonial clothing, and dioramas, which give a real flavor of how the vast Santiago sprawl grew. Tours are available in Spanish.

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  10. Museo Histórico Nacional

    The absorbing Museo Histórico Nacional documents colonial and republican history. The displays include ornate ecclesiastic objects, early colonial furniture and the weapons and personal effects of Chilean liberation heroes. The museum is also strong on the country's industrial history but skirts around the 1973 military coup. There's also a small room with Mapuche jewelry and artifacts.

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  12. Museo La Merced

    The Museo La Merced is immaculately presented. Its subject matter is of limited appeal (the history of the Merced religious order in Chile), but the displays are so lovingly restored and it is such an unexpected sanctuary of calm in the middle of the city that it is well worth a visit. There is also a very pretty inner courtyard and café.

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  13. Museo Nacional de Historia Natural

    The dusty and dated Museo Nacional de Historia Natural has extensive butterfly and fossil collections, including bone fragments of the giant Pleistocene ground sloth, known as the 'milodon', from the famous cave near Puerto Natales in southern Chile. It is part of a 40-hectare park that attracts strollers, picnickers, soccer kickabouts and preachers.

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  14. Parque de Las Esculturas exhibition hall

    The Parque de Las Esculturas exhibition hall houses intriguing sculptures by noted national artists, however, the displays can be sporadic and the opening hours vary depending on the exhibition. The surrounding Parque de Las Esculturas, a beautiful green belt by the river Mapocho, is a rare Santiago triumph in city landscaping. A perfect place to walk along the river.

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