Neighborhood Guide -
Lastarria
Good for an
arty get-together or a saucy rendez-vous: Lastarria keeps an open mind.
A
curious mix of intellectual enclave and red-light district, the Barrio
Lastarria has developed over the years an idiosyncrasy of its own. It’s
indisputably smart, with swanky restaurants, well-furnished bookstores
and a suave, urbane feel. But just around the bend, a colony of sex
shops and brothels are mushrooming without any apparent resistance. The
truth is that the Barrio Lastarria has a claim to the title of the
capital’s most open-minded and cosmopolitan quarter, and its residents
don’t hide their knack for gaudiness and eccentricity. Yet they also
share a strong commitment to keeping the Lastarria a genuine and
traditional barrio: they stick fiercely to their cornershops and
bakeries, think little of multiplex cinemas, and heroically encourage
independent shop owners (even those sleazy ones) for adding to the area
’s seductive quirkiness.
Tucked between the Cerro Santa Lucía, a former Spanish stronghold turned public park and the riverside promenade that is the Parque Forestal, the Lastarria’s location has pre-existing good looks. Yet the place is also proud of its belle époque achievements: elegant streets, lively café society, and obviously, the sensational Museo de Bellas Artes. On weekend afternoons, the neighbourhood's open spaces bubble up with painters, jugglers and buskers that create its unmistakable and irresistible cultural vibe.
Starting from the Plaza Italia, dive into the cosy Parque Forestal, with its gravel paths and iconic lamp posts. Apart from its clichéd romanticism, this stripe of green boasts some beautiful monuments, among the most prominent, the Fuente Alemana, a large water fountain in bronze and stone built to commemorate the vast German immigration to the country during the late 19th century. Along the park’s southern edge are some fabulous art deco buildings, many of which are the output of the talented architect Luciano Kulczewski. Not all of them fit this pattern, however, and the Palacio Bruna is the notable odd-one-out in these surroundings, and maybe even in the entire city, with its impressive dimensions and beautiful appearance of a Tuscan Villa. Today it is the home to the Chilean Chamber of Commerce, but unfortunately, cannot be visited on the inside.
At the merge of Calle Merced and Calle Monjitas you’ll find the legendary Emporio la Rosa, a hugely popular deli that offers al fresco seating and some of the best coffee and ice cream this side of Santiago. Lunch here is also a good alternative, with its homemade, no-nonsense Italian cuisine. Heading down Calle Merced, you reach Calle José Victorino Lastarria, the narrow pedestrian street from which the quarter borrows its name, to find the epicentre of the district’s bouillabaisse. On Sundays, this end of the Calle Lastarria becomes a small, but charming flea market selling retro bric-à-brac and other curiosities. The main crowd-puller in the area is the Plaza Mulato Gil de Castro, home to some mythical bars and restaurants and which in recent years underwent a radical remodelling in order to provide room for no less than two new museums, the Museo Arqueológico de Santiago and the Museo de Artes Visuales. The first of these has built on the success of the Museo de Arte Precolombino (in the historic quarter) and holds an exhibit of diverse archaeological items, placing a particular emphasis on Chilean ancient cultures. From its part, the Museo de Artes Visuales offers a collection of the new generation of Chilean contemporary artists, as well as regular exhibitions.
Nothing,
however, surpasses the Grand Dame of Chilean cultural landmarks, the
Museo de Bellas Artes
on its privileged location at the heart of the
Parque Forestal. This curvaceous 19th century building, inspired by the
Parisian Petit Palais, was conceived by Emile Jecquier, the architect
behind the Estación Mapocho sited further along the riverbank. Whilst
the Museum as an institution has existed in Chile since 1880 (making it
the oldest in Latin America) the initiative by President Aníbal Pinto
in 1906 to commission a purpose-built building for exhibits and an
academy of Fine Arts, marked a turning point in the history of the
country's arts.
At
the doorstep of this imposing building lies the striking sculpture of
‘Icarus and Dedalus’ by local talent Rebeca Matte, a pioneer among
women artists of 19th century Chile. Inside the building, it is the
spacious hall that attracts all the attention, with its impressive
glass and iron roof that marries an unmistakable Art Nouveau element to
the neoclassical style of the palace. Being the nation ’s most senior
museum, the painting collection is a compelling journey through Chile’s
five centuries of Fine Arts, featuring some local masterpieces such as
“El niño enfermo” by Pedro Lira, “La viajera” by Camilo Mori or
"Tentación de San Antonio" by Claudio Bravo. The permanent sculpture
exhibit in the main hall is also noteworthy and features works by some
of the most renowned Chilean artists in this discipline, including
Rebecca Matte, Virginio Arias and Marta Colvin. The Museum also offers
a solid and rich annual calendar of exhibitions.
Standing
back to back with the Museo de Bellas Artes is the Academia de Bellas
Artes, where a large portion of local artists received Fine Arts
induction during the first half of the 20th century. This palace now
houses the Museo
de Arte Contemporáneo, dependant of the
Universidad de Chile and which underwent a refurbishment in 2005. The
MAC has become an increasingly popular art space, holding a packed
calendar of exhibitions and events. The museum also has a substantial
holding of modern art, featuring some of the best of the domestic
scene, such as Nemesio Antúnez and Roberto Matta as well as foreign
artists such as Hundertwasser. Just as popular as the museum
is
its forecourt, much loved by families who gather on lazy weekend
afternoons to witness street performances and poetry readings
while tucking in ice-cream cones and candy floss. Despite the fact that
Calle Mosqueto makes no bones about being the capital's epicentre of
sleaze, many elegant streets surrounding the museum now attract chatty
intellectuals to the many cafés and bars that have surfaced in recent
years and which have turned this area into one of the hippest places in
the capital. At the corner of Calle Santo Domingo and Ismael Valdés
Vergara stands one of the most peculiar of the projects around the
district, the Casa Naranja,
a distinctly bright orange villa that
houses a restaurant and an independent art gallery on its
designed
interiors.
Avenida Jose Miguel de la Barra leads you to the back entrance of the Cerro Santa Lucía, a tiny verdant hill that is arguably Santiago’s most memorable landmark. The Santa Lucía is not so much a conventional public park, as it is a vertical labyrinth of hanging gardens and ruins of a Spanish fortification, with origins that stretch back to the city’s origins. When Don Pedro de Valdivia reached the valley of Santiago in 1541, he thought it strategically brilliant to establish a settlement under the shade of this small hill, which the natives referred to as ‘Huelén’, to watch over and fend off the city from hacked off aborigines. In 1872, the Santa Lucía was transformed by city leader Bejamín Vicuña Mackenna into one of the capital’s most romantic locations, adding the narrow paths, staircases and Tivoli-esque water fountains that make up this sublimely beautiful and atypical green space. The many trails merge atop in terraced gardens on the several levels of this park, reaching also several viewpoints from which an astonishing panorama of the city centre can be observed. The Terraza Caupolicán, the largest of all the terraces is easily recognisable for the original 17th century artillery that beautifies it. Through a doorway that still displays the symbol of the coat of arms of the King of Spain, you can descend into the main Plaza Neptuno, where a large fountain opens up to the staircase that leads onto the entrance from la Alameda. The water fountains that can be found around the hill form part of a clever network of waterworks that also plays a role in the irrigation of the gardens.
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