Regional Museum of Antofagasta

The Regional Museum of Antofagasta is housed in the old Customs House (Aduana), one of the oldest buildings in the city, dating from 1866. The building itself is worth seeing — a solid colonial-era structure that predates Chile's possession of this territory and survived the War of the Pacific intact.

The museum covers the region's history from the pre-Columbian peoples of the Atacama coast through the colonial period, the nitrate boom, and the subsequent copper era. Exhibits include indigenous ceramics and textile fragments, colonial maps and documents, mining equipment from the nitrate era, and a detailed account of the War of the Pacific that explains why this part of what was once Bolivia now belongs to Chile. The displays are bilingual in many sections.

The building sits near the waterfront in the historic centre, a short walk from Plaza Colón and the railway station. Admission is free or nominal.

Address: Balmaceda 2789, Antofagasta. Hours: Tuesday–Friday 10am–5pm, weekends 11am–4pm.

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The Regional Museum occupies the former Customs House, a building constructed in 1866 when Antofagasta was still technically Bolivian — the city was captured by Chile in 1879 during the War of the Pacific and never returned. The museum's collections document this history directly, including the original letters and maps from the war and artefacts from the nitrate era when British, Chilean, and Bolivian interests all clashed over the world's richest nitrate deposits.

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