SANTIAGO Then & NOW
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SANTIAGO Then & NOW RÍO MAPOCHO CENTER San Pablo 26 Esmeralda 25 16 5 6 Rosas 15 27 Parque Forestal the Huelén Hill (today known as Santa Lucía), the courses of the Río Mapocho and Catedral 28 Santo Domingo and Brasil Streets. Similar places would be used later on by the Spaniards. Miraflores Mac-Iver The first attempt to conquer Chilean lands 4 Monjitas Catedral Merced was in 1535. An expedition led by the Spaniard Diego de Almagro, came from Peru arriving at 3 2 17 THE SINGULAR the central valley after surviving the hardships CONGRESO Merced of a long voyage and crossing the Andes. NACIONAL 29 PLAZA DE 14 This adverse journey made him withdraw his ARMAS San Antonio intentions going back to Peru. A couple of years Compañía 1 Huérfanos later, another Spaniard, Pedro de Valdivia, will TRIBUNALES 30 Estado accomplish the long journey, after travelling DE JUSTICIA Ahumada J. V. Lastarria Bandera for a year, he finally arrived in the central valley Morandé 10 and funded the city of Santiago on February Agustinas CERRO LASTARRIA SANTA LUCÍA 12th, 1541. The new city will settle in similar 13 NEIGHBORHOOD areas as the ones used by the Incas before. The Spaniards as the Incas foresaw that this valley, UNIVERSIDAD PLAZA Moneda bathed by a river, with land for agricultural use CATÓLICA DE LA and indigenous work force, had potential to CONSTITUCIÓN 12 Lira become a prosperous settlement. 18 Nueva York 9 23 31 19 The new city was arranged and configured PALACIO DE LA in squares, as a checkerboard, using as the Santa Rosa Historical Santiago MONEDA 20 starting point, the main square (today Plaza San Francisco N s 7 de Armas). This traditional arrangement from e 24 21 r 11 Overview d the Spanish cities, was brought to America, n 22 8 Lo Hunters and gatherers inhabited the valley and still can be seen in the center of Santiago. París where Santiago is located as early as 10.000 It was in this central square, Plaza de Armas, Serrano BC. Progressively, these nomadic groups be- where the most important persons lived, as gan to settle, turning into different indigenous well as where the main buildings were built. communities led by chiefs, most of them, The first chapel and later on, the Cathedral, dedicated to agriculture. These communities were also built in this square. were the ones who encountered the Inca Empire when they invaded the area in the However, the Spanish colonial city was not SHORT ITINERARIES HALF-DAY & DAY ITINERARIES 15th century. Archaeological findings have exempt from difficulties. The beginnings were Foundational Santiago Santiago: Then and Now shown that the area already had a city, before marked by scarcity, fragile settlements, the the Spanish “conquistadores” arrived in Chile. It constant threat of indigenous uprising, periods Views, Nature and Poetry Arts and Humanities was the Incas who first saw the advantages of of famine, fires and, along with all these, the From Colonial to Independent City Architectural Route this valley as a settlement, situating between tremors and earthquakes - so distinctive of the arrival of the phone; the peak moment of the great buildings, both public and private; and the creation of new districts, with a Euro- pean inspiration, imitating the main European capitals and architectural styles. Consequently, Santiago's face will change, leading to various palaces, as the Palacio Bruna, the disappeared Palacio Concha Cazotte, the Palacio Cousiño; museums like the Museo Nacional de Historia A view of the Parque Forestal’s old lagoon, 1915 Natural and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes; public buildings such as the Congreso Nacional and the Palacio de Tribunales, among others. The 20th century Santiago was a city of mas- Plaza de Armas (Main square), 1920 Some of these changes were the addition of ses, expanding rapidly to the north, then west, new areas such as public walkways and parks. the east and south. In this context, during the One of the most significant contributions was the 1930s, an icon of this growing city was born: our land- resulted in a constant reconstruction are constructed as opposites. The first is consi- remodeling of the Cerro Santa Lucía. To these The Hotel Crillón. This sophisticated hotel lo- of the developing city, as it happened with the dered gridiron, functional, urban and political; new green areas, others were added, like the cated on the corner of Ahumada and Agustinas Cathedral on the main square. the second, an area without limits, semi-rural, Parque Quinta Normal, Parque Cousiño (Parque Streets became a meeting point where the with spontaneous settlements, precarious, O'Higgins today) and the Parque Forestal, which elite, intellectuals, artists and visitors conver- Even today, some of these colonial legacies can mixed with farms, country houses, convents and was finalized during the first decade of the 20th ged to enjoy its elegant rooms, renowned bar, be found. One of the oldest, the San Francisco churches. La Chimba is an alternative space with century. Similarly, new spaces for recreation acclaimed cuisine and many other amenities it Church and its convent, have witnessed the a different speed compared to the city. Later on, and sociability began to flourish, such as the offered. The Hotel Crillón was the beginning of city’s history since the ends of the 16th century, la Chimba would be home to bohemian neigh- Mercado Central, the main groceries market the hospitality tradition led by the Sahli’s family. surviving nearly 15 major earthquakes, without borhoods, taverns and entertainment districts, known as “La Vega”, cafes, restaurants and Their descendants continue this legacy today being destroyed. Other buildings remind us frequented by all kinds of people. During the hotels, as well as shows and theatres, where the through The Singular Hotels. about the city already settled and functioning, twentieth century it was also the neighborhood Teatro Municipal played a key role. Its original as the Casa de la Moneda (today Palacio de where some intellectuals decided to take up building was consumed by a fire in 1870, but The rapid expansion of the city was intensified La Moneda). This building was built in the 18th residence, as the poet Pablo Neruda did, in his quickly rebuilt on the same site. by the appearance of urban transport and century to coin the country’s money. The other house, La Chascona. electric trams from 1900 onwards, which were building of this period, finished in 1808, is the Since the late 19th century to the early 20th displaced near the 1950 by the "trolley-buses". Real Audiencia (today Museo Histórico Nacional), Despite the obstacles, Santiago managed to century, facing the centenary of the country in The city grew in multiple directions in a short where the judicial proceedings and authorities develop into the capital city of the country. After 1910, the growth of the city was rapid, doubling time. Several centuries of progressive expan- during the colonial period were located. the definitive independence in 1818, the city of its urban space. The city also had become an sion and order changed into the Santiago of Santiago, its image and construction becomes important pole of attraction for new and big- the 21st century: a massive disjointed, unequal In this city in the making, the Río Mapocho is more prevalent as it became the capital of an ger waves of foreign and national population. and distanced orb that seems to have no limits. also a key geographical landmark in its habits, emerging nation. Population growth, the arrival The latter settled in the peripheries of the city customs and spatial conformation. On the one of foreigners, the opening and increase of free in precarious conditions. Sign of this was the In this massive city, the historic center of San- hand, the river will flood and overflow, making trade, and the rise of mining, among others, will proliferation of collective housing, such as the tiago has not suffered radical changes yet, but clear the need for restraint to a single course. be felt in the city that flourishes. Therefore, a tenements, characterized by crowded spaces, a slow process of depopulation took place, as Thus, this restraint will cease the old branch of progressive betterment throughout the 19th poor sanitation and hygiene. Accordingly, in it became an administrative, commercial and the river that ran through the Alameda (today century to mid-20th century was slowly de- the early 20th century Santiago became a city service center. Only in recent decades a process Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins Avenue). Also, monstrated. The improvements in transport, for composed of two worlds: an idealized city, rich, of valorization and revitalization has started that the other side of the river will be known as La example, with the arrival of the railway and tram; elitist, with a European influence; and other, has attracted residents and visitors to reoccupy Chimba. Therefore, the rising city and La Chimba public gas lighting, followed later by electricity; mostly frail, poor and unhealthy. and enhance this historical, and heritage area. RÍO MAPOCHO c b BARRIO LASTARRIA, Parque Forestald Brief history and highlights Miraflores THE SINGULAR l j Merced 268 l , corresponds to a building of Merced 8 levels built in the 30s, where multiple styles e gather, striking neo-colonial balcony in its faca- h i de. Another distinguished building in the area is the Santa Lucía building h (The "Boat" or f Villavicencio "Vessel") of the architects Sergio Larraín and k José Arteaga. This building, as its colloquial g name says, resembles a large ship with its a J. V. Lastarria Alameda shape, windows and railings. The curvature of the building also manages to adaptAgustinas to the street CERRO and of the neighbor Cerro Santa Lucía.