The Casa Central de la Universidad de Chile, also known as ''Palacio de la Universidad de Chile'', is the main building for the

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

, and is located at 1058 Alameda Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins, in

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, whose ...

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 ...

. The building dates from 1872, and currently houses the rectorate, rooms used for ceremonial events and the

Andrés Bello Andrés de Jesús María y José Bello López (; November 29, 1781 – October 15, 1865) was a Venezuelan- Chilean humanist, diplomat, poet, legislator, philosopher, educator and philologist, whose political and literary works constitute an ...

Archives, so-named to honor the lawyer who founded the university. It was declared a

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spec ...

of Chile in 1974. The adjacent

Universidad de Chile metro station Universidad de Chile (in Spanish: ''University of Chile'') station is a transfer station between the Line 1 and Line 3 of the Santiago Metro. It is an underground station located between La Moneda and Santa Lucía stations on the same line. It ...

was named after the building.

History

Masacre_seguro_obrero_tropas_Tacna_U_de_Chile

After its inauguration in 1843, the

was in need of housing. The then

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

Manuel Montt Manuel Francisco Antonio Julián Montt Torres (; September 4, 1809 – September 21, 1880) was a Chilean statesman and scholar. He was twice elected President of Chile between 1851 and 1861. Biography Montt was born in Petorca, Valparaíso R ...

, selected a site to build the ''Palacio de la Universidad'', which was adjacent to the currently non-existent San Diego Church (which gave the name to the San Diego street) on the '' Alameda de Las Delicias''. The university originally occupied an annex of the Instituto Nacional, which was designed by architect Juan Herbage. Subsequently, it was decided that the university would have its own building whose main entrance faces the ''Alameda''. The design of the building was made by Lucien Hénault. The building was built between 1863 and 1872 by Fermín Vivaceta, who was one of the first architects born and educated in Chile. It is considered to be the first multi-story building built on the Alameda and it was also the third construction to be funded by government money in the country. An iconic room of the Palacio was the Salón de Honor, which originally contained a large canvas painting by Ernesto Courtois Bonnencontre named ''La Alegoría de las Ciencias, las Artes y las Letras''. It was destroyed during the student protests in the late

1920s File:1920s decade montage.png, From left, clockwise: Third Tipperary Brigade Flying Column No. 2 under Seán Hogan during the Irish War of Independence; Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in accordance to the 18th amendment, whic ...

. In 1912, the Facultad de Leyes y Ciencias Políticas (present day Facultad de Derecho) needed more room space. To meet this need, it was proposed to add a third floor to the building, but the project was withdrawn, and it was decided to accommodate the University of Chile Law School in the east wing of the Casa Central in 1927. In 1938, it was relocated to its current location on Pio Nono street. In 1928, the building housing the library of the university was demolished by order of the then provisional Minister of Education, Pablo Ramírez, and all the books were delivered out. The library (currently named Archivo Central Andrés Bello) was reorganized in 1936 by the then Rector Juvenal Hernández, thanks to donations by various professors, including Amanda Labarca and

Pablo Neruda Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973), better known by his pen name and, later, legal name Pablo Neruda (; ), was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Nerud ...

. Two years after, on September 5, 1938, the Casa Central was seized by members of the

National Socialist Movement of Chile Movimiento Nacional Socialista de Chile was a political movement in Chile, during the Presidential Republic Era, which initially supported the ideas of Adolf Hitler, although it later moved towards a more local form of fascism. They were common ...

and the rector Juvenal Hernández Jaque was held hostage. President

Arturo Alessandri Arturo Fortunato Alessandri Palma (; December 20, 1868 – August 24, 1950) was a Chilean political figure and reformer who served thrice as president of Chile, first from 1920 to 1924, then from March to October 1925, and finally from 1932 to 1 ...

gave the order to fire and two rounds of artillery were fired against the main entrance of the building, killing four people. This event formed part of the massacre known as " Matanza del Seguro Obrero". A clock by the firm Clemens Riefler of

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

was installed on the facade in 1929. The building was declared a Historic Monument in 1974. On March 31, 1977 was opened the Universidad de Chile station of the

Santiago Metro The Santiago Metro ( es, Metro de Santiago) is a rapid transit system serving the city of Santiago, the capital of Chile. It currently consists of seven lines (numbered 1-6 and 4A), 136 stations, and of revenue route. The system is managed by th ...

, located under the Casa Central. On March 27, 2001 a new

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

Mario Toral Mario Toral Muñoz (born in Santiago, Chile, on 12 February 1934) is a Chilean painter and photographer. Career At the age of 16, Toral moved to Buenos Aires, where he saved money to enroll in the Escuela de Bellas Artes (School of Fine Arts) i ...

was installed in the Salón de Honor. The building underwent structural damage after the 1985 Algarrobo earthquake, which was aggravated by the

2010 Chile earthquake The 2010 Chile earthquake and tsunami ( es, Terremoto del 27F) occurred off the coast of central Chile on Saturday, 27 February at 03:34 local time (06:34 UTC), having a magnitude of 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale, with intense shaking la ...

. The Casa Central was initially closed for a year, leaving open only the rector office, while the rest of the employees were relocated to the Torre 15 de San Borja. The renovations were completed in April 2015 for the cost of approximately $1,700 millions, which included the refurbishment of rooms to house the Senado Universitario, and exhibitions on the first floor.

Description

Built in the

Neo-classical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

, the Casa Central de la Universidad de Chile is an architecturally simple building, which is attested by its scarce decoration and the prevalence of straight lines. Two stairs from the vestibule lead to the second floor. At the center of the building is the Salón de Honor, a three-level auditorium whose

Doric columns The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

support the galleries. The palace features two

patio A patio (, from es, patio ; "courtyard", "forecourt", "yard", "little garden") is an outdoor space generally used for dining or recreation that adjoins a structure and is typically paved. In Australia the term is expanded to include roofed stru ...

s located to the east and to the west of the Salón de Honor, respectively named " Ignacio Domeyko" and "

", each containing a statue of the man for which the corresponding patio is named.

Statue of Andrés Bello

The

Carrara marble Carrara marble, Luna marble to the Romans, is a type of white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. It has been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara in the province of Massa ...

statue was created in 1881 by Nicanor Plaza to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Andrés Bello, which was proposed by

José Victorino Lastarria José Victorino Lastarria (; 23 March 1817 – 14 June 1888) was a Chilean writer, legislative deputy, senator, diplomat, and finance minister. Early life José Victorino Lastarria was the son of Francisco Lastarria y Cortés and Carmen Santander ...

. The statue was originally installed at the National Congress Building's main entrance facing Catedral Street in Santiago. In 1884 was relocated in front of the Palacio del Real Tribunal del Consulado de Santiago and then moved again in 1931 to the

median strip The median strip, central reservation, roadway median, or traffic median is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways such as divided highways, dual carriageways, freeways, and motorways. The term also a ...

of the Alameda, before being relocated to the western patio of the Casa Central in 1974, which was officially named as "Patio Andrés Bello". In front of the Casa Central, on the south sidewalk of the Alameda Bernardo O'Higgins, there is a replica by Samuel Román of that statue.

Rooms

* Rectoría * Consejo Universitario * Prorrectoría * Archivo Central "

" * Archivo y Laboratorio Fotográfico * Administración Casa Central * Librería Universitaria * Salón de Honor * Sala " Ignacio Domeyko" * Sala "Enrique Sazié" * Sala " Eloísa Díaz" * Sala Museo "

Gabriela Mistral Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (; 7 April 1889 – 10 January 1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral (), was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator and humanist. In 1945 she became the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Lite ...

" * Patio "Andrés Bello" * Patio "Domeyko" * Colección de Caracolas de

References

{{coord, -33.4445, -70.6510, type:edu_region:CL, display=title 1872 in Chile Neoclassical architecture in Chile Buildings and structures in Santiago University of Chile