Plaza Mulato Gil de Castro is located in

Barrio Lastarria Barrio Lastarria (Lastarria Neighborhood) is an historical neighborhood in the center of Santiago, Chile. Now a popular tourist hub, Barrio Lastarria is a center for cultural activity, with cinemas, theaters, museums, restaurants and bars. Activ ...

, between

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 ...

, Parque Forestal and

Cerro Santa Lucía Cerro is Spanish for "hill" or "mountain". Toponyms ;Bolivia: * Cerro Rico, the "Rich Mountain" containing silver ore near Potosi, Bolivia ;Brazil: *Cerro Branco, a municipality of Rio Grande do Sul *Cerro Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, a municipa ...

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 ...

. A popular destination for tourists and locals alike, the area is known for its cultural offerings and hosts a number of cafés, bookstores, museums, galleries, cultural centers, theaters and bars in its surrounds. The plaza itself provides access to a cultural center featuring both a visual arts and archeological museum. Metro stations Universidad Católica and Bellas Artes offer direct access to

Origin and development

As with many neighborhoods in Santiago’s center, Barrio Lastarria was built around a church: the Iglesia de la Veracruz. Houses were built between the winding streets, notably the house of Gil de Castro, built in the beginning of the 19th century, which stands next to the plaza. 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 Church of Vera Cruz in 2001 and 2002.Acerca del Barrio Lastarria
Barriolastarria.com. Retrieved 28 November 2012. Since then, as an historic area in Santiago, it has been able to maintain its traditional character despite new development.

References

External links

Barrio Lastarria Tourist and Cultural Information Portal

360° Panorama of Plaza Mulato Gil , Flip360
{{Coord, 33, 26, 16, S, 70, 38, 27, W, type:landmark, display=title Squares in Chile Tourist attractions in Santiago, Chile

Origin and development

See also

References

External links