National Heritage day in Santiago May 30th

Architectural and Historical Sites Open to the Public

Ever wandered by an official-looking building in Santiago and wondered what was going on?

This weekend brings some unique opportunities to get out (and then in) to more than 100 municipal buildings, embassies, libraries and museums in Santiago honoring Chile’s 12th annual “Día de Patrimonio” or National Heritage Day.

The day is organized and sponsored by DIBAM, which is the Dirección de Bibliotecas, Archivos y Museos (Directive of Libraries, Archives and Museums), part of Chile’s Ministry of Education, and consists of a set of buildings opening to the public for just one day a year to take tours of the open buildings. You’ll also get a chance to see thousands of Santiaguinos out on the street this Sunday from 10 AM to 3 PM, a time during which the downtown streets are often nearly empty. With more than 100 buildings to choose from, and which are spread all over the city, you’ll have to choose wisely and do some swift walking to see more than a few of these landmarks, so I suggest picking ones you simply couldn’t get into on a normal day (for example, choose the wood-paneled, ornate Club de La Unión which is hard to get into on a normal day over other sites like the Museo Precolombino (PreColombian Museum), which you can (and should) see six days a week. Be sure to take a peek, too into the Banco Central (Central Bank) through its Alice in Wonderland sized golden door.

Many of the buildings are rich in statuary and portraiture, and history and architecture buffs will learn quite a bit, and people watchers and crowdseekers won’t be disappointed, either. You’ll get to know quite about about Chile, Santiago and the people that live here by just wandering around from place to place as the crowds move.

The complete list is normally distributed in a colorful keepsake pamphlet at the door of each of the buildings, but you might want to either use your web-enabled PDA or a printed map to quickly figure out where you’re going. A good starting point for downtown would be Plaza de Armas, which is a metro stop on the green line, and sort of a ground-zero for historical buildings in Santiago.

What to see:

Of the 102 buildings to be open in Santiago, DIBAM’s website lists the following twelve, but you can access a longer list elsewhere, or wait until you get started to see the complete list.