Sights in Chile
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A
Museo Regional de la Patagonia
In town, Museo Regional de la Patagonia catalogues pioneer artifacts and Jesuit regalia. It also houses a fine collection of labeled photographs on regional history, including the construction of part of the Carretera Austral.
reviewed
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B
Museo HistÓrico
This museum has natural history items (mostly stuffed animals), archaeological artifacts, such as stone and whalebone arrowheads and spear points, plus a Yahgan canoe, Tehuelche bolas and historical photographs of Puerto Natales' development.
reviewed
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C
Iglesia Santo Domingo
The dainty-looking bell tower of Iglesia Santo Domingo looks as though it should have a twirling ballerina inside. The tower is a later addition, only a century old, though the attractive limestone church dates back to 1755.
reviewed
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D
Av Baquedano
Av Baquedano is the main thoroughfare, and its northern section is an attractive pedestrian mall. A handsomely restored tram (which normally sits outside the theater) occasionally jerks its way down the avenue in the tourist high-season.
reviewed
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E
Iglesia San Agustín
Three blocks east of the Plaza de Armas, the august limestone Iglesia San Agustín was built by the Jesuits in 1755, then passed to the Augustinians after the Jesuits’ expulsion. It has undergone serious modifications.
reviewed
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Oficina Santa Laura
The skeletal remains of Oficina Santa Laura are a half-hour walk southwest across the highway. It’s worth the trip to snoop around the monstrous machinery, used to crush minerals, and visit the small, free museum.
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F
Reserva Forestal Magallanes
Great hiking and mountain biking through dense lenga and coihue, 8km from town.
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Casa de Cultura & Biblioteca Daniel Defoe
The uninspired museum and combined library exhibits historic photos, a few plates from the Dresden and relics from colonial days. Guests can reserve a free half-hour of internet use in the library.
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Zoológico Nacional
The dinky Zoológico Nacional houses an aging bunch of neglected animals. It is, however, probably the only place in Chile where you are assured a glimpse of the dinky pudú deer, Chile’s national animal.
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G
Museo Entomológico y de Historia Natural
Crawling with color, antennae and pincers, the small Museo Entomológico y de Historia Natural specializes in insects and kaleidoscopic butterflies, but also has fossils, stuffed birds and invertebrates.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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H
Iglesia de la Inmaculada Concepción
Just off the Plaza de Armas's western edge, the Iglesia de la Inmaculada Concepción (1909) has a few ceiling paintings and an image of the Virgen del Carmen carried by Chilean troops during the War of the Pacific.
reviewed
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I
Ascensor El Peral
Ascensor El Peral starts from near the Tribunales (Law Courts) just off Plaza Sotomayor and continues to Cerro Alegre, which is home to the Palacio Baburizza (1916), which now houses the city's Museo de Bellas Artes.
reviewed
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Aldea de Tulor
Circular adobe structures huddle together like muddy bubble-wrap in the ruins of Tulor, the oldest excavated village in the region. It's just a short drive west of San Pedro, or jump on your bike and get peddling!
reviewed
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J
El Mercurio de Valparaíso
Topped by a mansard roof, the neoclassical El Mercurio de Valparaíso, built in 1903, is the home of the oldest continuously published Spanish-language newspaper (since 1827, pre-dating the building itself).
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Cerro de la Virgen
The dusty hike up Cerro de la Virgen, just north of town, offers vast panoramas of the entire Elqui Valley, but it's hot and exposed - bring water. The summit is less than an hour's walk from the Plaza de Armas.
reviewed
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K
Castillo Wulff
Squat-looking Castillo Wulff hangs half over the sea: skip through the art exhibitions to the tower at the back, where you can peer through the thick glass floor at the rocks and waves below.
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L
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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M
Palacio de Bellas Artes
In Parque Forestal’s center is the stately neoclassical Palacio de Bellas Artes, built as part of Chile’s centenary celebrations in 1910. Two of Santiago’s art museums share the premises.
reviewed
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N
Kokoro No Niwa
With its trickling brooks, drifting swans and neatly manicured rock gardens, this Japanese garden makes a good escape from the city. It is at the southern end of Parque Pedro de Valdivia.
reviewed
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O
Iglesia San Francisco
The bell tower of the ornate, red-brick Iglesia San Francisco served as a landmark for approaching mariners, who gave the city its common nickname ‘Pancho’ (a diminutive of Francisco).
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P
Tribunales de Justicia
South of the plaza, Av Baquedano is lined with Georgian-style balustraded buildings dating from 1880 to 1930. Among them is the former Tribunales de Justicia, now the Museo Regional.
reviewed
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Q
Casa Mohr Pérez
The 1876 Casa Mohr Pérez, a private home, is Osorno's oldest surviving Germanic construction. The block of Mackenna, between Cochrane and Freire, preserves a solid row of early Germanic houses.
reviewed
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R
Military Museum
Iquique’s little military museum features a patriotic parade of exhibits on the War of the Pacific. The enthusiastic guard usually allows guests to wield an original cavalry sword.
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S
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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