STROLLING IN SANTIAGO, CHILE

CENTRAL MARKET



"MERCADO CENTRAL - The wrought iron building was fabricated in England and served as a London railway station before being brought to Chile and assembled here piece by piece for the National Exposition of 1872. Later, it became a market"



"HERBS, FRUITS AND VEGETABLES"



"FISH"


"FOOD STALL near the statue"


"RESTAURANT - Just seated"


"PISCO SOUR, as an aperitif"


"HUNGRY, waiting"


"KING CRAB"


"FINALLY, someone is going to start eating..."

***

SAN CRISTOBAL


"CERRO SAN CRISTOBAL, a hill close to Barrio Bellavista, rises roughly 900m above sea level and its peak is the highest point in the city, some 300m above the rest of Santiago. From the peak, near the church and the statue of Virgin Mary, one has a fabulous view of the city"

***

MERCED



"MERCED BASILICA"


"LAWYERS AND WITCHES"

***

CERRO SANTA LUCIA






"SANTA LUCIA was so named when on February 12th, 1541, at the foot of the hill, Pedro de Valdivia founded the city of Santiago. In 1872, Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna decided to make the hill a new attraction of the European style city. The Alameda entrance was designed by the Architect Victor de Villeneuve and finished in 1902, and on 16 December 1983 Cerro Santa Lucia was declared a national monument"

Next evening we flew back to Madrid and then Lisbon, and that was the end of the 2004 vacation!

BACK TO SANTIAGO, CHILE!

RETURNING HOME - SEPTEMBER 2004

Santiago, Chile is a very nice town, as I've already mentioned on the first post of the 2004 holidays. However, when coming back home, my mood is always somewhat more depressing than while going out...


"EARLY MORNING CHECK-IN - The Intercontinental Hotel is a quite nice hotel (no publicity needed) at Las Condes"


"LA MONEDA, a neo-classical building from Joaquin Toesca and Agustin Cavallero, which is the Seat of Chilean Government since 1922, and the Presidential Palace. Here we have a view from Constitution Square"


"SALVADOR ALLENDE GOSSENS (1908-1973) was the first socialist president of Chile. Born in an upper middle class family, he became involved in politics at the University. After completing his medical studies, he was elected to the Congress, served as minister of health, and became leader of the Socialist Party in 1942. In 1970, Allende won the presidency, and started what he named the «Chilean Road» to socialism. However, Allende had many internal and foreign opponents, and on September 11, 1973, he was overthrown in a violent military coup led by Pinochet. At the end of the day, Allende was found dead, and many assert that he was assassinated by the invading soldiers of the La Moneda Palace. Once democracy was re-established, he got his statue in front of La Moneda"





"ART EXHIBITION at La Moneda. Today, one can access the Palace from the Constitution Square, and see its interior gardens, as well as some permanent or temporary exhibitions of contemporary sculpture"


"AHUMADA STREET is an attractive pedestrian walkway in the heart of downtown Santiago that leads into the Plaza de Armas. Some nice buildings, shopping passages, and coffee shops help to create an interesting environment"


"MUSICIANS - The atmosphere of Ahumada Street changes radically on weekends, when office workers give way to street performers"


"PUENTE STREET - Another quite interesting pedestrian street, on the other side of Plaza the Armas"


"THE (FORMER) NATIONAL CONGRESS HOUSE was completed in 1876. Congress met in this building until Allende was overthrown by the September 11, 2003, military coup, when it was moved to Valparaíso. The building was declared a national monument in 1976 and housed the ministry of foreign affairs between 1990 and 2006. On January 26, 2006 the Chamber of Deputies recovered its old offices"


"PLAZA D'ARMAS WEEK-END MARKET - Anything to sell or buy"



"CATHEDRAL - The building - the fifth on the site, since the previous four were destroyed either by the Mapuche (the first) or by earthquakes and fires - was built between 1748 and 1775. Joaquin Toesca intervened in its restoration giving architectural unity to the Cathedral, blending both classical and baroque characteristics"


"MONUMENT TO THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE - The Plaza de Armas was designed by Pedro de Valdivia, and it is considered the heart of the city with the Cathedral, the Royal Court, the Central Post Office and this unique sculpture celebrating Chile's Indian cultures and peoples"




"YOUNG ARTISTS - Starting the festivities of the National Day. Actually, Chile got its Independence on September 18, 1810, and every year Chileans celebrate their national day from September 17 until September 19"


"CHILEAN PRIDE - On September 17th, 2004, the National Day was approaching"

RAPA NUI - (PART IV) - BIRDMAN CULT

RANO KAU, ORONGO AND TANGATA MANU

It is believed that after the conflict that led to the fall of the moai, a new cult emerged. The surviving population developed new traditions to allocate the remaining, scarce resources. An intriguing result of the social changes was the Birdman Cult (Tangata Manu), probably evolving from earlier bird rites. It seems that it was created around 1680, after a military coup, and consisted on a competition run every spring. Then, men of importance or their proxies would descend the cliffs below the stone houses of Orongo, dive into the sea and swim three kilometres across shark-infested waters to Motu Nui, a nearby islet, to search for the season's first egg laid by a manutara (frigate, a pelagic sea bird). The first swimmer to return with an egg in a small reed basket tied around his neck would be named "Birdman of the year" and secure control over distribution of the island's resources for his clan for the year. He would shave his head, eyebrows and eyelashes, be painted white, and retire to Rano Raraku, where he would live for a year, under strict restrictions due to his sanctity and ritual power - tapu! He did not wash, cut his nails or bathe during the one year confinement. His wife could not enter his house, nor he hers for five months. The tradition was still in existence at the time of first contact by Europeans, and it ended in 1867.


"GROUP PHOTO at the Mirador on the road uphill to the ceremonial site of Orongo"


"RANO KAU - Dramatic view of the lake in the crater, which is covered with floating mats of vegetation, making it unfit for swimming or drinking..."


"RANO KAU - The caldera seen from the Mirador, looking south towards Orongo in the far distant upper right and the sea"


"RANO KAU - From the same spot, but looking east over the mile-wide crater lake"


"RANO KAU - The Knife edge crater drops almost three hundred meters to the sea"


"GROUP at Rano Kau"


"BIRDMAN"


"MOTUS, including Motu Nui"



"BIRDMAN and BIRDWOMAN at the Orongo ceremonial complex!"


"STONE HOUSES at Orongo"


"PETROGLIPHS - Lots of rock carvings can be found on Easter Island representing animals, notably birds or birdmen"


"It could be the ESMERALDA, the Chilean naval training ship, but it isn't..."



"THE VINAPU COMPLEX on the east side of the Rano Kau peninsula, just south of the far end of the air runway, is a site unique in Easter Island. Thor Heyerdahl would use this Inca-like stone ahu as an indicator that there was an important Peruvian influence on the island"


"AIRPORT RUNWAY - Point of departure either West for Tahiti or East for Santiago"