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The 3rd episode of A Pé has now started.
Today is the 30th of October, 2013, and I'm in Santiago,
the capital of Chile, the biggest city in the country
and home of over one third of the Chilean population.
So join me!
Before climbing Cerro San Cristóbal,
which was going to be the beginning of my journey,
I'll talk about this blue house behind me,
which is just by the foot of the hill.
It's called La Chascona.
It was built in 1953,
and here lived the famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda
with his then lover and later wife
called Matilda Urrutia.
Matilde had really long red hair,
after which the house was named.
La Chascona means "woman with untidy hair".
This house was invaded and partially burned down
by Pinochet's troops during the 1973 coup d'etat, but it was renovated.
Today La Chascona holds a museum maintained by the Pablo Neruda Foundation,
which also manages the other two houses where Neruda lived in Chile.
This area belongs to the Metropolitan Park of Santiago.
It's 2.7 mi² and is considered the city's lungs.
I'm going up the highest hill in the park,
which is Cerro Sán Cristóbal.
In order to do so, I'll kind of cheat the A Pé concept.
I'm not going on foot, I'm taking the famous Santiago Funicular.
It took two years to build this funicular,
and it was opened in 1925 by the president of Chile himself at the time.
By the way, talking about well known people,
Pope John Paul II took a ride in this funicular
during his only visit to Chile, in 1987.
The route of this funicular is long.
It's 485 meters long and has three stations.
The lower one, Pio Nono, where we get onto the funicular;
The Zoo station, which is halfway through
and is the entrance to the National Zoo, which is our next stop;
and the Cumbre station, which is on top of the hill,
on top of Cerro San Cristóbal.
I've got off at the only stop of the funicular
and I'm by the entrance of the zoo.
This zoo was opened in 1925,
just a few months after the funicular.
This is the home of more than a thousand animals
of 158 different species.
Without much further ado, because everyone knows what a zoo is,
I'll wait for the next funicular
and go to the top of Cerro San Cristóbal.
It's worth mentioning that it is possible to go up and down
Cerro San Cristóbal on foot,
but it's a 4.5 miles route by the other side of the hill,
which is completely off my route.
At last I've got to the top of Cerro San Cristóbal.
I'm 960 yards high and 300 yards from the rest of Santiago.
This is the second highest point of the city,
just behind Cerro Renca, which is way over there, off my route.
Why is it worth coming here?
To enjoy the landscape, the view of Santiago.
So now I'll shut up
and we can enjoy the view.
From the top of Cerro San Cristóbal it's possible to see the Andes.
This sanctuary is one of the main temples of the Catholic Church in Chile,
as well as an icon of the city of Santiago.
As you can see, it's characterized
by the image of the Immaculate Conception.
The statue began to be built in 1904
to replace a gigantic ancient cross which stood here
since the city's foundation, and was opened in 1908.
It's 14 meters high and can be seen
from just about anywhere downtown.
There is a small chapel at the foot of the statue.
Didn't I mention that Pope John Paul II
had used the funicular to come up here?
It was in this little chapel that he prayed and blessed
the city of Santiago in 1987, on the 1st of April.
The Metropolitan Park is behind,
and before leaving this neighborhood, Bellavista,
and going to the next, Lastarria,
I'll stop by a very cool place, which is the recent Patio Bellavista.
This space was opened in 2006
as part of a project of urban reform.
It's the Patio Bellavista.
There are many shops, restaurants, bars, art galleries,
all around a central square.
Here is the luxurious Hotel del Patio as well.
This place offers an extensive cultural agenda,
comprising dance shows, concerts,
painting and photo exhibits, and the like.
The Mapocho River is 60 miles long and runs across the city of Santiago.
A Chilean sculptor once published a magazine article
suggesting that Chile should follow the European models
and have its own Museum of Fine Arts
to put together all works of art spread elsewhere.
One year later, in 1880, his idea was accepted,
and the National Museum of Fine Arts was created.
It is in that building, the Palace of Arts, since 1910,
which was when this palace was built in order to celebrate
the centennial of the independence of Chile.
This building has already suffered many architectural changes,
some deliberate and some by force majeure,
such as the 1985 earthquake,
but these changes are mostly in its interior.
Externally it's pratically the same
since the day it was opened.
Now I've got to the Lastarria neighborhood.
This neighborhood, as well as many in Santiago,
was built around a main church,
that one, the Church of the Veracruz.
This neighborhood has become a cultural, touristic and gastronomic center in Santiago.
Its main street is Lastarria street.
Both here and in these other little streets
there are many cafés, bars and restaurants,
which makes it a great neighbor for a walk.
The highlight of this neighborhood is the Mulato Gil de Castro square,
which is over there
and receives a crowded antique market
every Thursday and Saturday.
It was on Cerro Santa Lucía
that Pedro de Valdívia founded Santiago in 1541.
A little while before, on the 13th of December, 1540,
he arrived at this hill for the first time,
and, since December 13th is patron Santa Lucía's day,
this hill was named after her.
Throughout the centuries, Cerro Santa Lucía has been revitalized many times,
but the greatest step happened in the 1870s
when the mayor then built this terrace,
the fountain, the lake and these other things.
This hill is "just" 226 feet high.
It's much lower than Cerro San Cristóbal from the beginning of the walk,
but also provides us with a great view of the city.
The San Francisco church started to be built in 1575
with the work of the native indians,
which makes it the oldest building
standing in Santiago.
The church has been enlarged and remodelled many times,
mainly because of the earthquakes that hit Chile now and then,
but the current tower, with the bell and the clocks, dates from 1857.
The church also holds a museum
with priceless objects from colonial times.
The Municipal Theater is the most important stage in Chile
for plays, opera, ballet, classical music...
It was opened in 1857
and thirteen years later was burned down by a fire
after the end of the performance of an opera singer.
It was rebuilt and reopened right after.
This theater holds 1500 people and 250 more in the upper floor.
It's just another curiosity:
the curtains that shut the stage are made of a special fabric,
made in Germany,
and weigh 2645 lb!
The Central Market was built in 1872
to replace an old square that stood here,
called Plaza de Abastos, where there was also a street market.
Unfortunately, this square burned down in a fire as well.
This building is considered one of the most beautiful buildings of that time.
It's imported from Scotland, and the entire market was assembled
in Glasgow and later brought to Santiago in parts.
Today it's a disputed market and an important shopping center.
People come here to buy their fish
or to have dinner with their families.
I've arrived at the Plaza de Armas.
This plaza dates back from the city's foundation,
the 12th of February, 1541,
following the Spanish tradition of sparing a block of the city
as a place for parades.
Today, after successive redesign, there is much more outdoor space.
The plaza is much greener and has become a cultural attraction,
and this place also attracts many artists from all over the country to perform here.
The irony is that it shows two sides of the same coin:
today it's a cultural space, but in the past
this space was used even for hanging convicts.
Santiago was designed so that all of its blocks
were as square as a chess board,
with the Plaza de Armas as its center.
It's no wonder that many of the places I'm showing
are around this plaza.
At the corner of the Plaza de Armas is the Municipality,
which is the townhall of Santiago.
Back in the 16th century the Cabildo was here,
which is how the administrative council was called in colonial times.
After the cabildo, the place became the city's prison,
but later the convicts were moved elsewhere.
That place came down, and this new place was built,
and since 1895 it has been the townhall of Santiago.
That crest over there
is a gift from Spain to Chile,
and it was put on the building's façade.
Beside the townhall is this yellow building,
the Palacio de La Real Audiencia.
This building has witnessed many important events
events in the history of Chile, mainly its independence,
that's why it's also known as Independence Palace.
This place has also been the site of the National Congress,
Bernardo O'Higgins workplace,
who was a Chilean independence leader and its first president,
as well as townhall and post office.
For the past 30 years it has been the site of the National Historic Museum,
which is a really cool museum because it has a chronological collection
which depicts the history of Chile
from colonial times until the 1973 military coup d'etat.
Behind me is the Metropolitan Cathedral.
It was built in 1775,
and if you think it's old enough by itself,
you'll be surprised to know
it's the fifth church built here.
The previous four were destroyed.
By fire? No, by earthquakes.
It's considered the most important cathedral in the country.
Inside is a 90 meter long aisle
and it's divided into three naves,
which are these wings where the believers get together.
In one of these naves lies the remains of Santa Teresa de Los Andes,
the first Chilean saint.
And, as surprising as it may sound,
there are also the hearts of the Chilean heroes who fought
the Concepción Battle during the Pacific War,
a war at the end of the 19th century
in which Chile fought Bolivia and Peru.
This museum is currently under repair works,
but it's the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art.
It's a pioneer initiative in Latin America,
exclusively dedicated to the peoples of America
before Christopher Columbus's arrival.
The collections in this museum range from the most famous ancient peoples,
such as the Incans, the Aztecs and the Mayans,
but also covers local Chilean peoples, such as the well-known Rapa Nui
of the Easter Island, which belongs to Chile.
The museum is divided into six cultural regions,
including a small section that shows a little bit of Brazilian peoples.
It's dedicated exclusively to the Amazon region.
The street I'm going to reminds me
of the first A Pé episode, in Buenos Aires.
It's the Chilean version of Calle Florida,
which is the main pedestrian-only street in Argentina.
This region near the Plaza de Armas has been remodelled,
which included 12 blocks being closed for vehicle transit.
This is the main street, Paseo Ahumada.
It's considered the most expensive street in Latin America.
Cariocas, forget about Leblon.
Paulistas, forget about Higienópolis. It's all about Paseo Ahumada.
Because it's a pedestrian-only street,
commerce has developed much in this region.
It's estimated that over 2 million people come here every day.
On the corner of Ahumada and New York, which is over there,
a huge screen was installed
to broadcast the most important sport matches to the Chileans,
such as soccer and tennis.
The very well preserved Palacio de La Moneda
is the current presidency site of Chile.
This palace was built by the Spanish
at the end of the 18th century to be the mint,
thus its name, Palacio de La Moneda.
It was the mint until 1929.
In 1973 a great coup d'etat took place in Chile,
led by Augusto Pinochet,
and the president of Chile, Salvador Allende,
died inside this palace.
Until today no-one knows if he was killed by the enemy troops
or if he committed suicide,
though recent investigation has led to suicide.
In front of the palace is this beautiful square,
which holds the statues of many presidents of Chile,
especially the statue of Salvador Allende.
This is the Museum of Memory and Human Rights,
which honors the victims of human right violation
during Pinochet's dictatorship, between 1973-1990.
It was built in 2010
to commemorate the bicentennial of the independence.
The architectural project of this museum - which, by the way, is very beautiful -
was chosen through a contest,
and the winning one was a project by a group of Brazilians.
It has three floors and there are many pieces about the subject,
including newspapers, magazines, letters, photographs,
documents, video documentaries,
as well as a digital library and a space for cultural activities.
Here a record of A Pé was beaten: 5.1 miles nonstop!
The National Stadium dates from 1938
and holds 47,000 people.
It was the main stadium in the 1962 FIFA World Cup
held here in Chile and won by us, Brazilians,
and in the world cup the stadium hosted 10 matches.
Brazil played two matches here:
the semi-final, when we beat the Chileans themselves by 4-2;
and the final match, when we beat Czechoslovakia by 3-1.
The story of this stadium goes beyond sports events.
Many concerts are held here.
And during the dictatorship
this stadium was even used as a detention center.
I chatted the guard at the front
and got into the National Stadium
just to say goodbye to you from the inside.
My walk ends here.
Thank you for everyone who's watched me.
See you next time!
Final numbers: 25,898 steps taken and 12.6 miles walked.