San Antonio / Chile

In the Central Valley of central Chile, just a few hours' drive from the Pacific Ocean coast, lies the country's main and largest city, Santiago de Chile, also known as Santiago. With its 7 million inhabitants, the city is one of the largest on both American continents.

Santiago was founded in 1541 by the Spanish conqueror Pedro de Valdivia, an envoy of the famous Francisco Pizarro. Despite many disasters in the 16th and 17th centuries, the city grew rapidly and after Chile gained independence from Spain in 1818, it remained its capital. In 1973, the country came under military rule led by Augusto Pinochet, but in the 1990s, the country once again embarked on the path to democracy. Today, the city is the cultural, political, and financial center of Chile, with the gateway for cruise ship guests being Valparaíso, about 1.5 hours' drive away.

Visitors to Santiago can enjoy a beautiful center with winding streets lined with 19th-century neoclassical architecture, as well as art deco or neo-Gothic buildings.

In 1769, the Casa Colorado house with the Santiago Museum was built, and even from 1586 comes the Church of St. Francis, the oldest in the city. At the top of San Cristobal Hill stands the city's symbol, the shrine with the statue of the Immaculate Virgin Mary from 1904, and the Chilean National Zoo is also located here.

Popular tourist destinations include the Palacio de La Moneda, the presidential palace, built between 1784 and 1805, offering free guided tours for those interested. On the main square, Plaza de Armas, stands a magnificent cathedral from the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries and the Palacio de la Real Audiencia de Santiago, which is now home to the Chilean National History Museum.

The tallest building in the city, as well as in the entire country and Latin America, is the 300-meter-high Gran Torre Santiago with the Sky Costanera observation deck. Panoramic views of the city are also available from the Torre Entel platform, a 127-meter-high television tower from the 1970s.

O'Higgins Park was founded as early as 1873 and with its extensive gardens, lakes, and numerous walking trails, it is a welcome place to escape the hustle and bustle of the big city. The Mapocho River winds through the city, and those who want to walk along it can visit Parque Forestal. From almost all of Santiago, there are beautiful views of the majestic Andes, with the city directly bordering the three-thousand-meter Sierra de Ramón mountain range to the east, where several ski resorts await winter sports enthusiasts, and to the west, it is surrounded by vineyards.

Excellent shopping spots include the Central Market, as well as the Providencia area of the city with wide streets, beautiful houses, and many shops and restaurants. Good souvenirs include jewelry with the gemstone lapis lazuli, knitted products made from alpaca wool, or wood carvings by the indigenous Mapuche people.

Santiago certainly does not lack first-class restaurants. Chilean specialties worth trying include pastel de choclo, a mixture of stewed meat with sweet corn, empanadas, pastries filled with meat, cheese, or mussels, or centolla, the delicate reddish meat of the king crab.