Barrio Lastarria (Lastarria Neighborhood) is an historical neighborhood in the center of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. Now a popular tourist hub, Barrio Lastarria is a center for cultural activity, with cinemas, theaters, museums, restaurants and bars. Activities such as festivals and live performances are commonly held throughout the streets of Lastarria given its strong cultural flavor, particularly in J.V. Lastarria street and

Parque Forestal Parque Forestal is an urban park in the city of Santiago, Chile. The park was created on reclaimed land from the Mapocho River The River Mapocho ( es, Río Mapocho) ( Mapudungun: ''Mapu chuco'', "water that penetrates the land") is a river in Ch ...

. Barrio Lastarria is bordered by the

Alameda An alameda is a Avenue (landscape), street or path lined with trees () and may refer to: Places Canada *Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan **Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan Chile ...

and Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral to the south, Santa Lucía Hill to the west,

to the north and

Plaza Baquedano Plaza Baquedano, commonly known as Plaza Italia, is a major landmark in Santiago, Chile. The plaza was inaugurated in 1928, being crowned by a monument made by Chilean sculptor Virgínio Arias and featuring General Manuel Baquedano, giving the ...

to the east. Metro stations Universidad Católica and Bellas Artes provide direct access.

History

Following the

Conquest of Chile The Conquest of Chile is a period in Chilean historiography that starts with the arrival of Pedro de Valdivia to Chile in 1541 and ends with the death of Martín García Óñez de Loyola in the Battle of Curalaba in 1598, and the destruction of ...

Pedro de Valdivia Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, wh ...

, this area was left under the control of Bartolomé Blumenthal, a German migrant to Chile, who built a mill on the site. As with many neighborhoods in Santiago’s center, Barrio Lastarria was built around a church: in this case, the Iglesia de la Veracruz. Houses were built between the winding streets, notably the house at Plaza Mulato Gil de Castro, built in the beginning of the 19th century. Despite the neighborhood’s early origins, the plaza was only built in 1981 due to interest in preserving a series of facades beginning at the historic house of Gil de Castro. During the 1990s, the neighborhood began a process of restoration with care not to alter its bohemian and intellectual flavor, with a number of cafés, bars and cultural centers appearing towards the end of the decade and the restoration of facades of the Iglesia de la Veracruz in 2001 and 2002. Since then, as an historic area in Santiago, it has been able to maintain its traditional character despite new development. Barrio Lastarria was declared an official ''Zona Típica'' by Chile in 1997. Due to both the number of visitors and LGBT residents, on 5 November 2006, the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation ( Movilh) held an act in Parque Forestal to declare the sector as the first gay-friendly neighborhood in Santiago.

Places of interest

*Cafés, cinemas and museums in J.V. Lastarria street. * Plaza Mulato Gil de Castro. *Cafés, theaters and cultural centers in Monjitas and Merced streets, including Teatro Ictus and Teatro Lastarria 90. *Bars, cafés and florists in the area of José Miguel de la Barra-Victoria Subercaseaux, including Mosqueto street. *Area between

and Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts. * Santa Lucía Hill. * Palacio Bruna and Iglesia de la Veracruz. *Hotels and hostels on the streets Victoria Subercaseaux and Rosal. *The Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral, the first building which can be seen when entering Barrio Lastarria from the

, opened in 2010.Inauguration of the Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral Illuminates Santiago
''This is Chile''. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.

References

External links

Barrio Lastarria Tourist and Cultural Information Portal (Spanish)

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History

Places of interest

See also

References

External links