O'Higgins Park (, formerly known as Parque Cousiño), with an area of around , is

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 ...

's second largest public park after

Metropolitan Park Metropolitan Park is a urban waterfront park and concert venue located on the north bank of the St. Johns River in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida. It is projected to be the eastern terminus of the northbank Jacksonville Riverwalk. Facility ...

. It is located in the center of the capital, in the Santiago Commune. The park, named after

Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; August 20, 1778 – October 24, 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque-Spanish and Irish ancestry. Althou ...

(one of

's founding fathers), is a popular place for families to visit during weekends and holidays, especially during the national holiday on September 18, when a number of ''

fondas In Chile, fondas (also called ''ramada'' or ''chingana'') are places that sell food and beverages during the Fiestas Patrias in September. One of the most famous fondas is '' La Grandiosa Bertita'', which is located in O'Higgins Park in Santiago, ...

'' and '' ramadas'' —traditional places for dancing, eating and drinking— are open to the public for a few days. Between 2011 to 2019, O’Higgins Park hosted the annual music festival

Lollapalooza Chile Lollapalooza Chile is the Chile-based version of the popular music festival Lollapalooza (). It is held in Santiago, Chile. History The annual festival launched in April 2011 in Santiago’s O'Higgins Park and features alternative rock, Heavy m ...

History

The present-day O’Higgins Park is the result of gradual evolution over its history. The site, originally called ''Pampilla'' or ''El Llano'', was a flat open space between the modern-day Santa Rosa and San Ignacio streets, where people gathered to celebrate '' Fiestas Patrias'', Chile's national day. The government bought the land in 1845 and used the southern portion for state buildings, including a jail. In 1870, it gave the northern portion of the terrain to Chilean politician, entrepreneur and philanthropist Luis Cousiño. Inspired by the parks he saw in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, he decided to create one in his own city and contracted French

landscaper Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including the following: # Living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal ...

Guillermo Renner to shape it into parkland. The park was inaugurated by his widow

Isidora Goyenechea Isidora Goyenechea Gallo (1836-1897)Virgilio Figueroa. Diccionario histórico y biográfico de Chile, t.2, p. 474, Establecimientos gráficos Balcells & Co, Santiago, 1928 was a Chilean industrialist. She owned and managed the coal mines in L ...

in 1873 and was named ''Parque Cousiño'' in his honor.

Movistar Arena

In 1956, work began on an indoor stadium inside O’Higgins Park which would eventually become the largest covered arena in Chile. Construction started but then stalled, leaving only the bare structure of the stadium complete until 1999, when the roof was finally completed. After further delays, the stadium at last opened to the public in 2006 as the Arena Santiago. In 2008, Telefonica’s cellphone division

Movistar Movistar () is a major telecommunications provider owned by Telefónica, operating in Spain and Hispanic American countries. It is the largest provider of landline, broadband, mobile services, and pay television (Movistar+) in Spain. Movistar is ...

bought the naming rights and the stadium became the

Movistar Arena Movistar Arena is a 17,000-seat multi-purpose indoor arena in Santiago, Chile. It is located inside O'Higgins Park, in downtown Santiago. Its main structure was built in 1956, but it remained unfinished and without roof, the roof was installed i ...

Religious events

On 19 December 1926, the Church in Chile used Cousiño Park for a ceremony to crown an image of

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or Virgin of Carmel, is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order, particularly within the Catholic Church. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Ca ...

, Chile’s

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

, led by

Benedetto Aloisi Masella Benedetto Aloisi Masella (29 June 1879 – 30 September 1970) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as prefect of the Discipline of the Sacraments from 1954 to 1968, and as chamberlain of the Roman Church (or camer ...

, the papal

nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international or ...

to the country. The painting used in the ceremony is preserved in

Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral () is the seat of the Archbishop of Santiago de Chile, currently Celestino Aós Braco, and the center of the Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile. Construction of the Neoclassical cathedral began in 1753 and ended i ...

and is carried through the streets of Santiago on the last Sunday of September each year. In 1987,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

visited Chile and led a

beatification Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

ceremony in O’Higgins Park for Saint Teresa of Los Andes. The ceremony had to be suspended when violence broke out between the

Carabineros de Chile ( en, Carabiniers of Chile) are the Chilean national law enforcement police, who have jurisdiction over the entire national territory of the Republic of Chile. Created in 1927, their mission is to maintain order and enforce the laws of Chile. Th ...

(Chilean police force and

gendarmerie Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...

) and crowds protesting

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

’s

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

. The situation calmed and the pope, believed to be a supporter of Chile’s return to democracy, concluded his address with the words “love is stronger”.

Davis Cup controversy

In 2000 the

Arena Santiago Movistar Arena is a 17,000-seat multi-purpose indoor arena in Santiago, Chile. It is located inside O'Higgins Park, in downtown Santiago. Its main structure was built in 1956, but it remained unfinished and without roof, the roof was installed i ...

in O’Higgins Park played host to a tie tennis match between Chile and Argentina as part of the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

. During the second singles match between

Nicolás Massú Nicolás Alejandro Massú Fried (; born 10 October 1979), nicknamed ''El Vampiro'' (Spanish, 'the vampire'), is a Chilean former professional tennis player. A former world No. 9 in singles, he won the singles and doubles gold medals at the 200 ...

and

Mariano Zabaleta Mariano Zabaleta (born 28 February 1978) is a retired professional male tennis player from Argentina. He had an unusual but effective service motion. His best shot was his forehand and his favourite surface was clay. Zabaleta's career highlights ...

, the crowd reacted violently, throwing objects on the court and forcing Argentina to withdraw.

Lollapalooza Chile Lollapalooza Chile is the Chile-based version of the popular music festival Lollapalooza (). It is held in Santiago, Chile. History The annual festival launched in April 2011 in Santiago’s O'Higgins Park and features alternative rock, Heavy m ...

In November 2010, musician and

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

founder

Perry Farrell Perry Farrell (born Peretz Bernstein; March 29, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the frontman of the alternative rock band Jane's Addiction. Farrell created the touring festival Lollapalooza as part (one of the ...

announced that the first overseas version of the rock festival would take place in O’Higgins Park, Santiago. The inaugural

took place on 2–3 April 2011 and drew a crowd of about 100,000, with venues including the park's Movistar Arena, La Elipse, and La Cupula Theater. Lollapalooza Chile has returned annually since then, most recently on 16–18 March 2018.

Infrastructure

The park is located next to Parque O’Higgins metro station and near Santiago's

Autopista Central Autopista Central ("Central Highway", in Spanish) is a privatized, partially submerged highway in Chile forming part of the Ruta 5. It forms part of the urban highway network of Santiago, all of which incorporate a free flow toll system. Out of t ...

highway. Key structures and facilities include: The

, one of the largest multi-use stadia in South America. Campo de Marte, also known as ''La Elipse'' (), where a military parade takes place every September 19 for the Day of the Glories of the Army. El Pueblito (), where visitors can find shops, craft stalls and museums, including the Museum of the

Huaso A huaso () is a Chilean countryman and skilled horseman, similar to the American cowboy, the Mexican charro (and its northern equivalent, the vaquero), the gaucho of Argentina, Uruguay and Rio Grande Do Sul, and the Australian stockman. ...

and the Insect and Snail Museum.

Fantasilandia Fantasilandia is a Chilean amusement park. The park opened in 1978 and is located in a corner of the O'Higgins Park in Santiago, Chile. On January 28, 1978 the park opened for first time with only 8 attractions, including the "Galaxy" coaster, " ...

, the biggest

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

in Chile, located in the park's northwestern corner. Olympic poolPrmera piedra de la piscina olmpica
latercera June 08, 2012, retrieved on March 22, 2015 There is also a public pool, a roller skating field, a skate park, tennis courts, a soccer field, a theater and an artificial lake, with walking trails crossing the length of the park.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:O'Higgins Park Parks in Santiago, Chile Urban public parks