Santiago de Chile
Last day in 'Santiago de Chile' where we felt safe and where we found a very Spanish atmosphere!!!
We travel by metro on this sunny Sunday for the continuation of our visits.
* Museum of Memory and Human Rights:
This museum, inaugurated in 2010, retraces the 17 years of dictatorship that the country suffered between 1973 and 1990 during the regime of Pinochet.
Within this large modern building, social dialogue is required in a country where there is still no talk of dictatorship in schools.
Through a journey listing photos, videos, newspaper clippings, testimonies, interactive installations, notebooks and other relics of this era, we evoke the torture and deprivation of liberty of some 40,018 victims, including 3,200 dead or missing.
Last lunch on a terrace before heading to the 'Bellavista' neighborhood and its 'Murales'.
Then we go back for a last ride in the historic district.
Santiago de Chile
Today we are getting to know the metro. Its access is easy, just buy a card and recharge it. We can be several on this card and its price beats all records: 75 cents the journey which can last up to 1h30 between buses and metro lines!!!
Our first stop is for the "Biblioteca National ".
One of the oldest libraries in Latin America, it dates from 1925 and was built in the French 'Beaux Arts' style.
Then our steps lead us to the 'Cerro Santa Lucia'.
In 1541, Pedro de Valdivia founded the city of Santiago at the foot of this hill, which he named Santa Lucía. In 1841 it was converted into a public promenade so that the inhabitants of Santiago could stroll along its paths.
Like every day, after lunch, we visit another museum.
* Centro Gabriela Mistral.
Opened in 2010, this centre, which is named after the Nobel Prize for Literature, offers many shows, from dance to theatre and visual arts. There is also a bookstore and temporary exhibitions of local artists.
And finally, we walk quietly in the "Barrio Lastarria" known for its "Murales" and its house of "Pablo Neruda"
This house of character with atypical architecture, located at the foot of Cerro San Cristóbal, was one of the residences of Pablo Neruda, the great Chilean poet, and Matilde Urrutia.
Return to the motorhome to prepare for the rest of the trip.
Santiago de Chile
We leave the campsite for several reasons:
* very far from the city center, 1 hour’s drive
* the facilities are spartan and outdated
* no guard during the day
* the gate closed but we locked
We settle in the airport parking lot, which does not have as dense traffic as the major capitals.
We leave at the end of the morning to continue our discovery of the city.
* Eglisia San Francisco
In 1711, it was built by the Jesuits and due to numerous fires and climatic elements depicted in 1910 in its current presentation.
Entirely in wood, without a nail or other iron element, it presents an impressive work of framework and cabinet-making and since 2012, it now displays bright colors: yellow and pink!
After a lunch break, we head towards the " Museo de Bellas Artes ".
This neoclassical palace was inaugurated in September 1910. During its construction, the palace plans were inspired by the neoclassical architecture of the Petit Palais de Paris. The entrance hall is characterized by its large glass dome, whose structure has been imported from Belgium. It presents a collection of more than 5,600 works of art, including paintings, drawings, prints, photographs and sculptures by Chilean and international artists.
On the way back we stop at the 'Museo de Arte Colonial San Francisco'.
This museum includes many works of art from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The 7 rooms of the museum exhibit an interesting collection of magnificent paintings, sculptures, pieces of silverware, furniture and carved wooden doors.
Return to our parking.
Santiago de Chile
We dedicate our first day to the historic center. The weather is gloomy: overcast and not warm... Mandatory down jacket!!!
Most of the museums and banks as well as the oldest buildings in Santiago are located in the historic district, around the Place d'Armes and the Place de la Constitucion.
There are people in the street and on the terraces of the cafes ... A very Spanish atmosphere.
* Plaza de armas
This square, truly the heart of the capital, is the place of foundation of the city and the km 0 of Chile. It is surrounded by important historical buildings: the cathedral of Santiago, the Casa de Gobernadores de Chile, which today houses the municipality of Santiago, the Central Post Office and the National History Museum.
* Cathedral Metropolitan
Declared a national monument in 1951, this church survived many earthquakes that devastated the city. The construction combines classical and baroque styles and represents the major symbol of the Catholic presence in Chile.
* National Historical Museum
This monument, built between 1804 and 1807 by Juan Goycolea, was that of the Royal Audience. It was in this neoclassical building, flanked by Tuscan elements, that the first National Congress held its sessions.
For lunch we head towards the 'Central Market'. This building is a large metal structure in galvanized iron. Completed in 1868, the building was inaugurated on the occasion of the National Exhibition of 1872. Today, the complex includes a large number of restaurants, called 'picturesque' but remain very touristy.
The afternoon is devoted to the "Museo de Arte Precolombino". Spread over 11 exhibition rooms, the permanent collection of ceramics, sculptures and textile pieces from different pre-Columbian cultures is striking. It reminds us of all the museums we discovered throughout our journey in different countries.
Its collection is instructive and a good approach to pre-Columbian art.
Before returning to the campsite, we stop to admire the "Casa colorada". It is the best preserved colonial house in Santiago. It was built in 1769 and restored in 2012 after the earthquake of 2010. Today, it houses a small museum.
Santiago de Chile
On 12 February 1541, Pedro de Valdivia ordered the construction of Santiago, in reference to the apostle, on the same model as Lima.
It is undoubtedly the extraordinary site of this sunny valley, bathed by the Mapocho River and biting the snowy sides of the Andes, which decides the conquistador in his choice.
However, the valley is already occupied by the "Mapuche" indigenous people who do not give up their place so easily. Barely six months after the arrival of the Spaniards, they drove them out and besieged them for two years before reinforcements arrived from Peru.
Little by little, the colony fortifies itself. Only 700 Spaniards and a few thousand peasants and indigenous slaves lived in Santiago at the end of the 16th century.
The city suffered for two centuries from the commercial isolation of Chile but also from the political predominance of Lima and then from the importance of the flourishing port of Valparaíso.
At the end of the 19th century, Santiago definitively took precedence over its rival Valparaíso and the rich families of industrialists and landowners built palaces of all styles there.
Towards the end of the 1950s and especially during the following decade, a part of the center will be almost entirely razed to make way for a forest of skyscrapers.
Today it is a modern capital, always in turmoil, where the population keeps growing.
Santiago de Chile
The night was cool: - 1 degree!!!
To go down towards the capital of Chile, the first part of the road is nicknamed 'Los Caracoles' by the Chileans.
The slope is extremely steep, making it the most difficult and dangerous road in the world. This portion of the road consists of more than 29 hairpin bends all equally impressive from each other!
Moreover, it is used by hundreds of trucks in both directions which make traffic difficult, even dangerous.
The landscapes on the Chilean side are also magnificent,
Upon arriving at 'Santiago de Chile', we stock up on supplies before joining our campsite.
Small quiet evening.
Portillo
Today towards Chile.
The motorhome seems to us to be in good working order ... Let’s hope it lasts!!!
We leave Corinne and Thierry with sadness. We have had a good time together on the roads since our first meeting in 'Baja California' in January 2019. Their journey stops in two months after several years on the roads of the American continent.
We decide to cross the border 'Paso Los Libertadores'. This is the most important border crossing that connects 'Mendoza' to 'Santiago de Chile'.
The ancient road to Chile climbs up to an altitude of almost 4000 meters where a statue of Christ the Redeemer was erected. Nowadays, there is a tunnel of 3.800 km, located at an altitude of about 3200 meters above sea level
We cross the border on the Chilean side after a very beautiful climb through an arid landscape with rocks of all colors.
The Chileans are extremely picky about what goes into the country. We undergo a complete check of the motorhome, until each box of medication is checked.
We rest for the night in the parking lot of the hotel 'Portillo'. The temperature is 7° and we are surrounded by slightly snowy peaks. We even have internet!!!
ROAD BOOK 216
MAVROS ODYSSEE
