Bellavista Neighborhood
Perhaps few places in Santiago have built such a recognized urban identity as the Bellavista neighborhood. This large area combines the most incredible variety of handicrafts and clothing shops with a wide range of international cuisine restaurants serving diverse specialties.
La Chascona, Pablo Neruda's House Museum.
This place is located between the northern coast of the Mapocho River and Mount San Cristobal and shows the aristocratic and catholic influence of past times. With a peculiar architectural style, it seems to be a kind of outdoor museum. Strolling through the streets, talking with people and tasting its food turn this site into a sort of town within the limits of a big city.
Nowadays, this neighborhood mainly features an intensive cultural activity which, together with the hectic nightlife in pubs and discos, is finally chosen by most tourists and residents of Santiago at the time of carrete (having fun).
As this is the favorite spot for intellectuals and artists, such as poet Pablo Neruda (who built one of his houses here), the Bellavista neighborhood is also one of the most important meeting places for Bohemians in Santiago.
As this is the favorite spot for intellectuals and artists, such as poet Pablo Neruda (who built one of his houses here), the Bellavista neighborhood is also one of the most important meeting places for Bohemians in Santiago.
La Chascona, Pablo Neruda's House Museum.
This house is located on the mountainside of San Cristobal. Its peculiar shape indicated that it was not an ordinary household. This house was built for Pablo Nerudas's lover and third wife, Matilde Urrutia.
The name “La Chascona” was given by Neruda in reference to the hair of his then secret love until 1955. “Chascona” is used as a synonym for the word “unkempt” in this country. The truth is that this is far from being a place where hairdos matter, the house shows the unique world where the remarkable Nobel Prize of Literature recipient used to live.
His obsession for the sea made him build a house with the shape of a ship. Cluttered with unique items that only Neruda could use, the house surprised us at each step. Jars and vases of various colors, windows, gas lamps, figureheads, coins from different countries, shells, paintings by famous friends, secret passageways and other rooms, a bar built with the wood of a French ship, comfortable armchairs and its valuable library are some of the items in this construction.
Chilean Pre-Columbian Art Museum.
The museum opened its gates a little more than two decades ago. The neo-classical building used to be the Royal Customs Palace. The hectic sidewalks crowded with people coming and going makes it seem to go unnoticed, but the truth is that inside its venue, objects come to life and tell visitors about the myths, the beliefs, the rituals and the customs of the first settlers in America. That is the Chilean Pre-Columbian Art Museum: a pioneer undertaking that shelters, studies and spreads the artistic heritage of Latin American Pre-Columbian peoples, without taking into consideration the political borders separating countries today.
Plaza de Armas
Bellas Artes Neighborhood
Municipal Theater
The Municipal Theater of Santiago is a true producer of art.
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La Chascona is amazing, there you can learn a lot from Neruda as well as our country.
Fernanda Godoy 3th A