Summary: This section is short. Take time to see the museums and other attractions. Highlights include the Sacred Hearts School, the Plaza Victoria, the Natural History Museum, city hall, the Severin Library, the old Spanish Club, and the German Club.
Estimated Walking Time: Approximately 90 minutes.
How to get here: By car, enter Valparaíso on Pedro Montt Street and park near the Hoyts Multicinema Complex. There is the Italian Park. By bus, take any of the buses in front of the bus station and get off after about 10 blocks, in front of the Cineplex.
Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Tourist Infrastructure: Plenty of eating opportunities at the low and medium range along Pedro Montt Street. For health food fanatics there is a great juice bar on Victoria Square (Bogarin) and a decent vegetarian restaurant on Condell Street (Bambu). At the end of the route, the traditional German eatery, Hamburg, is a must.
One of the best ways to start this route could be with a steam bath at the Turkish bath house. If you don’t have time, there is plenty to see around the Italian Park.
The corner building on Freire and Independence Streets is called the Severín Palace, not to be confused with the Severín Library, which comes up later. The building was a restaurant for many years and today serves as a technical institute. The marble stairway gives way to a very elegant parlor with ornate woodwork, especially in the ceilings. The interior was used to film scenes from the movie Amalia Lopez O’Neil, by Valeria Sarmiento. This is a splendid example of 19th century architecture in this section of the Almendral neighborhood.
El Abuelo Antique Shop
One of the several fine antique shops, (another is Lagazio several blocks farther on the same street), “El Abuelo” belonged to Don Pablo Eltesch and his wife, María Mihoevich, two surnames at home in Valparaíso, but unrecognizable in other parts of Chile. Today, Don Pablo’s son runs the store, whose clients have included Pablo Neruda, the novelist José Donoso, and writer Enrique Lafourcade. Many items are actually not for sale, demonstrating that the survival of the store is, in many ways, more a factor of family pride that a zeal for generating business.
Sacred Hearts School
Another one of Valparaíso’s best kept architectural secrets, the Sacred Hearts School, is Chile’s oldest private high school, the first religious school founded by non-Spanish clerics in all of Latin America! The school’s hollowed halls have educated many prominent people, including a few past presidents. Enter on Independence Street, steps away from the Italian Square. Inside, you will find numerous European style plazas, cloisters, and even a funky underground tunnel connecting the campus to the nunnery on the far side of Colon Street below ground.
The first nuns arrived from France in 1827 and within a few years they were imparting classes in Valparaíso. The trademark steeple was dedicated in 1840 and the school functioned until the year 2007. In 1868, work began on the main church. The clock tower, bells, mosaic, pavement, altar, pulpit, and confession booths were all brought from France. The stained glass is an imitation of the Church of Santa Gúdula in Belgium. The magnificent organ was donated by Enrique Meigs, and fabricated especially for the church by Aristide Cavaille-Coll, considered the finest French organ maker of those days. The church was dedicated in 1874, the first house of worship for the French order of the Sacred Hearts in the Americas. 127 people are actually buried beneath the central nave!
Our walk continues along Independence Avenue, with traditional stores, such as Lagazio, one of Valparaíso’s premiere antique shops. Finally, we arrive at Victoria Square. This is Valparaíso’s principal social gathering space. Centuries ago, this was a primitive bull fighting ring named Plaza de Orrego, after the cleric Vicente Orrego. The name was changed to celebrate Chile’s victory in the War of the Pacific. The spectacular fountain is actually war bounty. The children’s play area is the spot where the famous Victoria Theater was edified in 1886. This was the center of Valparaíso’s cultural scene, frequented by European opera companies and international stars, such as Sara Bernhardt. Tragically, the Victoria Theater was leveled by the 1906 earthquake. Across the street, the Old Union Building is considered a treasure. Home to one of Valparaíso’s original newspapers, and old competitor of El Mercurio, the building now houses the archdiocese of Valparaíso. An Arte Noveau tower collapsed during the 1906 earthquake. On Condell Street, just off the plaza, you can visit the attractive Lyon Palace, a national monument which houses the city’s Natural History Museum upstairs and an attractive art gallery downstairs. One block down the same street, you will find Valparaíso’s neoclassical City Hall, with a well-tended tourist office. Sneak a peek at the “Salon de Honor” with its many wonderful paintings.
Severín Public Library
Chile’s first public library offers many architectural, artistic, and literary treasures. The building was donated by Santiago Severín, and designed by the architects Barrison and Schiavon; the same Italian experts who built the famous “hanging house” outside the Artillery Elevator and the Baburriza Palace in Pleasant Hill. Ask to see the Dante Alighieri Room if you want to see the best woodwork and furniture this side of Italy!
Brazil Avenue, DUOC, and Monument Row
Back on Brasil Street, right of the library, you’ll find a block of neoclassical architecture culminating in the Polanco Palace, a national monument. Brasil Street is known as Monument Row. Highlights include the British Arch, the memorial to the fallen fireman, and a monument to Lord Cochrane. The DUOC community college, designed by Juan Sabagh, a winner of the National Architecture Prize, is considered a wonderful example of blending new with the old. Try visiting the terrace on the top floor. Another notable building is the Old Spanish Club, where the Spanish consulate stills operates. Ask for a tour!
Ross Palace
At Bellavista and Brasil, the childhood home of Matriarch Juana Ross is another national monument. This is now the German Club, complete with restaurant, a very important ethnic heritage site worth a visit. Brasil Street culminates in a lovely civic plaza in front of the regional government building, where many cultural activities are held. The Hamburg is Valparaíso’s premiere German restaurant.
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