Iglesia San Francisco

The Iglesia San Francisco is the oldest surviving building in Santiago, completed in 1618 and one of the very few colonial structures left in a city that earthquakes have repeatedly levelled. The thick adobe walls and the sober Baroque facade look weathered and ancient in the best way — a genuine survivor in a city where most things are relatively new.

The attached museum holds a collection of colonial religious art, including 17th-century paintings from the Cusco School, carved wooden altars, and vestments. The small cloister is particularly beautiful — one of the few genuinely old courtyards in the city. The church is on the Alameda, diagonally opposite from the GAM cultural centre. Open for visits outside of mass times; the museum has separate hours.

things to do sight architecture santiago centro
A story
The Iglesia San Francisco was completed in 1618 and survived the major earthquakes of 1647 and 1730 that destroyed most of colonial Santiago — the only colonial building in the city to do so. The secret of its survival is its construction: 2-metre-thick adobe walls on deep stone foundations. The Mapuche Virgin inside — a small wooden figure brought by Pedro de Valdivia from Spain in 1540 — is considered the oldest image of the Virgin Mary in Chile.

Other places in Santiago Centro