Santiago Plaza de Armas: The Historic Centre Walking Guide

Plaza de Armas is the founding square of Santiago de Chile — the physical point from which Pedro de Valdivia established the city in 1541 and from which all distances in Chile are measured. Every major building of colonial significance surrounds it: the Metropolitan Cathedral (first built in 1558, rebuilt multiple times, the current structure dating to the 18th and 19th centuries), the Central Post Office in its neoclassical palace, the National History Museum in the Real Audiencia building, and the Santiago City Hall. The square itself is large, shaded by mature trees, populated by chess players, portrait painters, pigeons, and the full social cross-section of central Santiago.

The Cathedral's interior is worth entering: the neoclassical nave holds significant colonial artwork and the tomb of Bernardo O'Higgins, Chile's founding father, in the crypt. The post office palace at the square's north side is an extraordinary building — a former colonial government headquarters converted to postal use, its interior courtyards open to the public and worth walking through. The Museum of Pre-Columbian Art, two blocks west on Bandera Street, has the finest collection of pre-Columbian artefacts in Chile in a converted colonial building that is itself architecturally exceptional.

The streets immediately around the Plaza — Paseo Ahumada (pedestrianised), Calle Estado, and the Barrio Lastarria a short walk east — provide the full range of central Santiago commerce and culture. La Chascona, Pablo Neruda's Santiago house (now a museum), is in Bellavista, a 20-minute walk north through Barrio Italia. The neighbourhood around Lastarria has Santiago's best concentration of galleries, independent bookshops, and outdoor café terraces.