The
Capital City of Chile: SANTIAGO
Governor Pedro de Valdivia founded Santiago
del Nuevo Extremo on February 14th, 1541, along the valley of
the Mapocho River, at the foothills of Santa Lucia hill. The
plan of the city, maintained up to nowadays, was outlined by
the same conqueror.
Along its 458 years of existence, Santiago has been destroyed and rebuilt
several times: six months after its foundation, it was devastated
by the Araucanians, and two earthquakes, in 1647 and 1730, only
left a couple of buildings standing.
These disastrous events, along with the consolidation of Santiago
as the capital city of the country, contributed to remodeling
the city. Since the colonial period, different governors tried
to carry out important urban developments. The Casa Colorada
(1769), Calicanto Bridge (1780), La Moneda Palace
(1805), the Alameda de las Delicias (1820), the general
cemetery, the transformation of Santa Lucía Hill in a
promenade (1872), the National Congress Building (1875),
and the channeling of the Mapocho river (early XX century),
among other ones, have contributed to turn Santiago into a city
with a rich past and a promising future.
In the Center
Near the foothills of the Andean mountain range, just in the Central
Valley, the city is located 543 meters above sea level, presenting
a light slope from east to west. The overwhelming presence of
the mountain range can be appreciated in the valley by San Cristobal
and Santa Lucia hills.
The Mapocho River crosses the city from east to west; in old times,
it had its overflow stream on what is now Libertador Bernardo
O’Higgins Avenue, riverbed that was filled by the end of last
century.
The weather of this area is mediterranean, warm, with regular temperature
variations between summer and winter. Rains occur mainly between
March and September (autumn and winter), and very scarcely in
summer. The annual average temperature is 14º Celsius; in winter,
the average is 9º Celsius, and in summer it is 22º Celsius,
though sometimes it may be higher than 30º in this season.
In relation to its area, Santiago covers 1.400 square kilometers: 35 kilometers from north to south and 40 kilometers
from east to west. This is basically so due to the expansion
of the different satellite districts which, in old times, were
peripheral focal points of population or villas. When they met,
gave birth to the Greater Santiago, the biggest city of the
country, including a population of more than 5 million people.
Present Santiago
Important center of the country, historically most of the economic,
administrative, cultural, commercial, industrial and political
activities have always been carried out in Santiago.
To know the city, you must not only walk along the most traditional
areas, but also stroll around the new places, art galleries,
entertainment and natural parks, promenades and cultural centers.
All this enables you to find all the necessary alternatives
to provide a nice stay in Santiago. High category hotels, all kind of restaurants,
guided tours in the city, shopping centers, facilities and governmental
organizations, besides diplomatic
representations of most countries.
But that’s not all, as any big city proud of itself,
the entertainment possibilities are not restricted to daytime. At night, Santiago turns
into a city where you can have a good time until late. The most traditional
and fashionable areas to have a good time are Barrio Bellavista (downtown),
Suecia Avenue (in Providencia), San Damián
promenade (in Las Condes), and Plaza Ñuñoa (in Ñuñoa), there are
pubs, restaurants and discos in all styles and for all kind of people.
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