El Patrimonio Cultural

Sunday, 29 May saw Chile celebrate its twelfth Día de la Patrimonia (Cultural Heritage Day). On this particular day, government agencies, public and private museums and national monuments were open to the public, like Museo Bellas Artes, Santiago Municipal Theatre and the National Library to name a few in Santiago. Yet, what most people don't realise is that these state buildings are not the only heritage-listed feats to check out.

Santiago is filled with heritage-listed garden suburbs: a planned suburban development with open spaces, low-density housing and of course, many private gardens, that were popular in the early twentieth century in England and English colonies. This includes the English that settled here in Chile, most notably in Providencia.

After English sailor, William Noon, arrived in Chile and established Fort Bulnes as governor of Punta Arenas, he went on to construct what is now called the William Noon Community, located on the corner of Manuel Montt and Eliodoro Yanez. This historical area is composed of two-level dwellings that are organized around patios, each one painted identically in deep crimson and eggshell white.

After Noon passed away, he left his estate to the Sisters of the Dominican Order - the name Providencia actually being a derivative from the Convert of the Sisters of Divine Providence, who came to Chile in 1853 from Canada. Providencia now harbours 27 World Heritage sites, including the William Noon Community.

Today, many ordinary Chilean citizens live in these protected garden suburbs. Another such place is Población Leo XIII, again located in Providencia. This population was the first social housing in Chile and was named after Pope Leo XIII, who encouraged the awareness of the bad conditions for workers and hence their need for better housing.

Each one of these cute one-storey houses look very similar to the other, except for their unique shades of pastel. As you walk further along the street, you feel as if you have entered a charismatic country lane in a Hollywood movie set, each cosy-looking house inviting you in for a warm, homemade soup.

Then you step onto the set of My Fair Lady in Viña del Mar Street, with its grand English style houses that are characterised by their bow windows and Art Nouveau wrought iron fences. Nothing makes the street more distinctive though than the vibrant colours that awaken the senses like a fresh summer’s day at the beach.

You can find the Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales (Council for National Monuments) hidden amongst the casas, and from them you can get a map of the heritage route around Providenica, which takes you from Viña del Mar Street to the multitude of historical monuments in Bella Vista, including La Chascona and the Plaza Camilo Mori.

These are just a few of the garden suburbs in Santiago. Just aimlessly wondering down the streets of Providencia and Bella Vista is like stepping back into a time in the past when attention was paid to detailing houses and painting them the colours of the rainbow, and making them a part of a community. It just goes to show that you don't always have to pay a price for history.