Built in 1904 for the Spanish nitrate baron Juan Higinio Astoreca, the Palacio Astoreca is the most opulent of Iquique's wooden mansions — a three-storey timber palace in Georgian-revival style, with billiard rooms, ballrooms, and tortoiseshell-and-marble interiors imported from Europe. It is now a cultural centre run by the Universidad Arturo Prat and free to visit.
The interiors are the draw: ornate stained glass, original furniture, and a grand wooden staircase that gives a sense of just how rich the nitrate era made Iquique. Temporary art exhibitions occupy several of the rooms. It is half a block from Calle Baquedano and easy to combine with a stroll through the historic centre.