Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins (), popularly known as La Alameda (meaning, a street bordered by poplar trees), is the main avenue of

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. It runs east–west in the centre of the greater urban area and is long, and it has up to 5 lanes in each direction. It was named after

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

founding father The following is a list of national founders of sovereign states who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e., political system ...

Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; 20 August 1778 – 24 October 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 people, Basque-Spanish people, Spani ...

. It was originally a branch of the

Mapocho River The River Mapocho () ( Mapudungun: ''Mapu chuco'', "water that penetrates the land") is a river in Chile. It flows from its source in the Andes mountains onto the west and divides Chile's capital Santiago in two. Course The Mapocho begins at the ...

History

The avenue is located on the former stream bed of a branch of the Mapocho River, which was drying up between 1560 and 1580. Such landforms were known by the Spaniards as '' Cañadas'', and from there the origin of its initial name of ''Cañada''. For many decades it was used as a

landfill A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

site, until it was converted into a boulevard by Bernardo O'Higgins during the first years of independence of the country and was named as ''Alameda de las Delicias''.

Description

Alameda Avenue originates immediately west of the Plaza Baquedano, as a continuation of Providencia Avenue, and runs in a generally southwesterly direction until its junction with Chile Route 68. The south section of the initial stretch of the avenue is dominated by a cluster of

tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdiction. ...

s called ''Remodelación San Borja''. On the opposite side of the Alameda, the

city block A city block, residential block, urban block, or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. In a city with a grid system, the block is the smallest group of buildings that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are th ...

s are characterized by a continuous building frontage. This urban design is broken by the

Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral The Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral (GAM) (formerly known as the Diego Portales Building) is a cultural centre located at 227 Av. Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins, in Santiago de Chile. The complex was originally built to serve as the headquarters ...

. The corner of the Alameda and Portugal Avenue is home to the headquarters of the

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC Chile; ) is a traditional private university based in Santiago, Chile. It is one of the thirteen Catholic universities existing in Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical univ ...

. Heading west, the avenue skirts the southern edge of the

Cerro Santa Lucía Cerro is Spanish for "hill" or "mountain". People * Francisco Cerro (born 1988), Argentine footballer * Francisco Cerro Chaves (born 1957), Spanish prelate, theologian, and philosopher of the Catholic Church * Ian Cerro (born 1996), American ...

. The following stretch of the Alameda consists of almost unbroken blocks of mostly office and commercial buildings interspersed with some historical buildings, including the

Biblioteca Nacional de Chile The National Library of Chile () is the national library of Chile. It is located on the Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins in Santiago, Chile, Santiago, in a building completed in 1925, though its history reaches to the early nineteent ...

, San Francisco Church, Club de la Unión and behind it the building housing the

Santiago Stock Exchange The Santiago Stock Exchange (SSE) (), founded on November 27, 1893, is Chile's dominant stock exchange, and the third largest stock exchange in Latin America, behind Brazil's BM&F Bovespa, and the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores in Mexico. On Decemb ...

, as well as the old building serving as headquarters for the

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

, which faces the

Paseo Ahumada Paseo Ahumada is four-block-long street in downtown Santiago. It extends in a north–south direction from Plaza de Armas (Santiago), Plaza de Armas to the Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins and is lined by buildings housing retail esta ...

. West of the just mentioned street and a half block north of the Alameda is located the Edificio Ariztía. West of San Francisco Church, the Alameda's median widens to accommodate a park. The avenue bisects a large rectangular area lined with walls of government buildings, whose core portion is home to the

Palacio de la Moneda Palacio de La Moneda (, ''Palace of the Mint''), or simply La Moneda, is the seat of the president of the Republic of Chile. It also houses the offices of three cabinet ministers: Interior, General Secretariat of the Presidency, and General Se ...

. West of Amunátegui Street stands the Torre Entel, a landmark communication tower. The Norte-Sur axis of the Autopista Central passes underneath Alameda. From here the average height of the buildings decreases significantly. Between Brasil Avenue and Cumming Avenue, it borders the Barrio Concha y Toro. Leaving the central district at Matucana Avenue, the Alameda enters into Estación Central. The Santiago Estación Central railway station and the main campus of the University of Santiago are located here. Crossing Las Rejas Avenue, the avenue forms the boundary between Estación Central to the south and

Lo Prado Lo Prado () is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. The commune borders Cerro Navia to its north, Quinta Normal to its northeast, Estación Central to its southeast and Pudahuel to its west. Demograp ...

to the north. The Alameda terminates at a partial Y interchange.

Monuments

La Alameda's principal monuments are dedicated to the military heroes in Chile's history. Near the

La Moneda Palace Palacio de La Moneda (, ''Palace of the Mint''), or simply La Moneda, is the seat of the president of the Republic of Chile. It also houses the offices of three cabinet ministers: Interior, General Secretariat of the Presidency, and General S ...

are the statues of

José de San Martín José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (; 25 February 177817 August 1850), nicknamed "the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru", was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and central parts of South America's succe ...

, Manuel Bulnes Prieto, and

. Near the intersection of the Autopista Central and La Alameda, there is erected the statue to the heroes of the Battle of La Concepción. A beautiful mosaic was constructed at the edge of

Santa Lucía Hill Santa Lucía Hill (), also known in Mapuche as Huelén Hill (), is a small hill in the centre of Santiago, Chile. It is situated between Alameda del Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins in the south, Santa Lucía Street in the west and Victoria Sube ...

in honor of the poet Gabriela Mistral; there are also dozens of other monuments to persons of national and international importance along the central floe of La Alameda.

Santiago Metro

Underneath the avenue runs Line 1 (depicted on subway maps as Santiago de Chile L1

), the main line of the

Santiago Metro The Santiago Metro () 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), 143 stations, and of revenue route. The system is managed by the state-owned Metro S. ...

. The transit agency's headquarters are located at the corner of La Alameda and Lord Cochrane street. From west to east, the stations along La Alameda are: * Las Rejas *

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

* San Alberto Hurtado * Universidad de Santiago * Estación Central * Unión Latinoamericana * República * Los Héroes Santiago de Chile L2

La Moneda Palacio de La Moneda (, ''Palace of the Mint''), or simply La Moneda, is the seat of the president of the Republic of Chile. It also houses the offices of three cabinet ministers: Interior, General Secretariat of the Presidency, and General Sec ...

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile () is a public research university in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the co ...

* Santa Lucía Santiago de Chile L9

* Universidad Católica * Baquedano Santiago de Chile L5

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'higgins Streets in Chile sv:Santiago de Chile#Geografi