(Note: I'm too inept to figure out how to add Spanish accent marks to my blogs, so if you're a language purist you'll just have to excuse me. Also, all of the instructions are in Spanish and I've been unable to get them up in English.)
On Saturday we made our way to the Plaza de Armas, literally the center of the country. All distances are measured from this point. The plaza was laid out by Pedro de Valdivia when he founded the city in 1541, with a lovely park surrounded by well-preserved colonial buildings. We first heard a Latin big band sound and then saw a fairly large band in army uniforms entertaining the crowd from the bandstand. A few of the people were dancing. Others were clapping and moving to the beat.
The Army Big Band
The Crowd Enjoying the Music
From the bandstand we crossed the Plaza to the Cathedral. Completed in 1780, it's the fifth church to be built on the site. The first was burned by the attacking Picunche, the next three were destroyed by earthquakes. A special mass was being held and was being broadcast live. We came back the next day to get a closer look at the altar, carved from marble and ornamented with bronze and lapis lazuli. One of the side chapels contains an altar of silver crafted by Bavarian Jesuits.
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| The Municipal Cathedral |
Mass at the Cathedral
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| The Main Altar |
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| The Silver Altar |
From the Cathedral, we made our way to the
Palacio de la Moneda, the seat of the Presidency of the Chilean government, passing the former home of the Chilean Congress and the Judicial Building, which houses the Supreme Court. Congress was disolved by the Pinochet regime in 1973, and when it again met in 1990 it was decided to move to Valparaiso, to a rather ugly contemporary structure.
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| The Former Home of the Chilean Congress, in a Beautiful Garden Setting |
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| The Current Home of the Chilean Congress, in Valparaiso. Guess There's No Accounting for Taste. |
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| The Home of the Supreme Court. The Building Takes Up an Entire Block. |
The Moneda Palace was designed by the same Italian architect who built the cathedral, and was intended to serve as the royal mint. The building was used as the presidential residence from 1846 to 1958. It's no longer the president's home, but still serves as the official seat of government. It was from here that Salvador Allende's 1,000 day presidency ended. Beseiged by the military forces under Gen. Pinochet, Allende broadcast live to the nation. The signal was cut, and bombs began to fall on the Palace. At the end of the day, Allende was found dead in the ruins of the palace, wearing a helmet and clutching a machine gun. Officially a suicide, but other theories remain.
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| The Moneda Palace |
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Guards at the Palace |
Statue of Allende
From the Moneda area, we wandered along the very wide, very busy Alameda to the
Iglesia San Francisco, the oldest building in Santiago, begun in 1586. An organist was playing in the nearly empty sanctuary, and it was a beautiful setting with beautiful music. The main altar contains a small carving of the Virgin of Socorro, brought to Chile on the saddle of Santiago's founder, de Valdivia. He credited it with guiding him on his way and fending off Indian attacks by throwing sand in their eyes.
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| The Church of San Francisco |
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| Interior of the Church |
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