Puerto Montt's main historical museum, on the waterfront west of the centre, was renamed after the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1987. The collection covers four main themes: the indigenous Mapuche and Huilliche peoples of the Lakes Region, the great earthquake of 1960 (the largest ever recorded, magnitude 9.5, which had its epicentre just offshore), German colonisation, and the modern fishing and salmon-farming industries.
The earthquake exhibit is the highlight — newsreel footage, twisted machinery, and an interactive display that reconstructs the seismic wave. Allow ninety minutes.