Museums in Santiago
Museo Interactivo Mirador (MIM)
The MIM is the biggest and most modern complex of cultural entertainment in Chile, with regard to both its contents and its educational nature, which is based on the interactive participation of the visitor in each of the 330 displays of sciences, arts and nature.
It is located at Sebastopol 90, Parque Brasil, La Granja, Santiago, at bus stop 13 on Avenida Vicuña Mackenna, near the junction with Avenida Departamental. The email is reservas@mim.cl and the website is www.mim.cl.
Museo de Taxidermia y Ciencias
This museum is located at Avenida Manuel Antonio Matta 1860, Pueblito de Parque O’Higgins in Santiago.
It has a collection of about 150 embalmed animals, created by Nibaldo Reyes.
Museo Ralli
Museo Ralli is located at Alonso de Sotomayor Street 4110, Vitacura, Santiago.
Telephone: (56-2) 2064224
Museo Nacional de Historia Natural
The Natural History museum was founded on September 14, 1830, by the French scholar Claude Gay, hired by the Chilean government to carry out a comprehensive study of Chile and to ‘set up a museum of Natural History containing the main mineral and vegetable productions of the country’.
The museum is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 10.00 to 17.30; Sundays and holidays it is open from 12.00 to 17.30 (April to August) and from 11:00 to 18:30 hrs (September to March).
Its website is www.mnhn.cl
Museo Pedagógico de Chile
The Biblioteca Especializada en Ciencias de la Educación (specialist library in educational sciences) of the Museum has more than 40,000 books and texts on the philosophy of education, pedagogical psychology, the didactics and methodology of disciplines, anthropology, economics and sociology. It also has periodicals, leaflets and a large number of documents and conferences produced by famous educators. Also, the Archivo Fotográfico del Museo has more than 6,000 images related to the history of Chilean education, organized and catalogued.
It is located at Chacabuco 365, Santiago Centro. Its email is muspedag@tnet.cl and the website is www.dibam.cl/museos/pedagogico_index.html
Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino
The Museum houses a permanent exhibition called ‘América Precolombina en el Arte’, and temporary exhibitions that change every year. There is a free guide service that can be requested by telephone or email. The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00 hrs. It is closed on Mondays.
It is located at Bandera 361, one block from the Plaza de Armas in Santiago. The telephone number is (56-2) 6887329- 6887348
email: Icbmchap@reuna.cl. The website is http://www.precolombino.cl/
Museo La Chascona
This museum is located at the foot of Cerro San Cristóbal, at Fernando Márquez de la Plata 0192, Santiago. It was declared a National Monument in1990.
The house was the residence of the Chilean poet and Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Pablo Neruda. He moved here in 1955, together with Matilde Urrutia.
In the house you can find an large number of books, paintings and other objects that the poet collected during his life. The house is also the headquarters of the Fundación Neruda.
It is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 10.30 to 13.30 hrs and from 15.00 to 17.00 hrs.The telephone number is (56-2) 7778741
Museo Arqueológico de Santiago
The house where this museum is located was donated by the Campos Larenas family to be transformed into a museum and workshops in honor of the artist José Gil de Castro.
It is located at Avenida José Victorino Lastarria 307 between Merced and Alameda streets in Santiago. The telephone number is (56-2) 6649337
Museo Artequín
This is an interactive art museum with an innovative offer to attract children, young people and adults to the world of art through reproductions of sculptures and paintings of western art, interactive computer programs, modules, interactive games, audio-visual shows, guided tours with diverse activities and workshops.
It is open from Tuesday to Friday from 9.00 to 17.00 hrs.
Sundays and holidays it is open from 11.00 to 18.00 hrs.
It is located at Avenida Portales 3530, Estación Central (opposite Quinta Normal) in Santiago. The telephone number is (56-2) 6818656 / 6818687, Fax: 6818648, email: infomuseo@artequin.cl , Website: www.netup.cl/~artequin/index.html
Museo Colonial de San Francisco
This museum has a collection devoted to the life of San Francisco. There are fifty-four canvases painted in oils in Cuzco between the years 1668 and 1684, according to information contained in the paintings themselves, commissioned by the Franciscan convent in Santiago de Chile. It is the most valuable collection of colonial art in Chile and the best kept in South America.
It is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00to 13:00 hrs. and from 15:00 to 18:00 hrs. It is closed on January 1, May 1, Good Friday, September 11, 18 and 19, and December 25.
It is located at Londres 4 in the center of Santiago. Its telephone number is (56-2) 6398737, Fax (56-2) 6398737, email: museo@rdc.cl, the website is http://www.museosanfrancisco.cl/
Museo Histórico Nacional
The present headquarters of the museum are located in the building that belonged to Palacio de la Real Audiencia, built by the engineer and architect Juan José de Goycolea y Zañartu. It is built in brick in neoclassical style. Construction work began in 1804, and the building was inaugurated in 1808. Later it was the seat of the Primer Congreso Nacional ( July 4, 1811), and the government palace during the revolutionary period from 1812 to 1814, the year in which General Mariano Osorio restored Spanish authority and reinstalled the Real Audiencia (1814-1817).
It is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00 to 17.30 hrs. On Sundays anyone may visit free of charge. For guided tours you should contact the Departamento Educativo del Museo on Mondays, extension 37.
The museum library is open to the general public and specialized readers from Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 to 13.30 hrs. and from 15.00 to 17.30 hrs.
It is located at Plaza de Armas 951, south side, in Santiago. Its telephone number is (56-2) 6330462 – 6381411. email: museohisnacional@entelchile.net. the website is www.museohistoriconacional.cl/index.html
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes
The fine arts museum was founded on September 18, 1880, and is the oldest art museum in Latin America The museum has several collections that include paintings, sculpture and graphic arts amounting to approximately 5,600 original works by the most important Chilean and foreign artists.
It is open in winter (April 1 to November 30) from Tuesday to Saturday from 10.00 to 19.00 hrs. On Sunday it is open from 10.00 to 18.00 hrs. In summer (December 1 to March 31) it is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 11.00 to 20.00 hrs. On Sundays it is open from 11.00 to 19:00 hrs.
It is located at Parque Forestal s/n in Santiago. The telephone number is (56-2) 6391946. email: dduarte@oris.renib.cl. The website is www.mnba.cl
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (MAC)
The first objects in the contemporary art collection were put together through acquisitions, loans and donations by collectors. The call for collaboration was answered by numerous national and foreign resident artists.
It has collections of paintings, engravings, sculptures, drawings, watercolors and works in mixed techniques.
It is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 11.00 to 19.00 hrs. Sundays and holidays it is open from 11.00 to 17.00 hrs.
It is located at Parque Forestal s/n opposite Calle Mosqueto in Santiago.
Its telephone number is (56-2) 6396488, Fax: (56-2) 6394945, email: mac.uchile@entelchile.net, the website is www.mac.uchile.cl
Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende
This museum is located at Herrera 360 at the corner of Calle Compañía in Santiago. The main purpose of the museum is to make available to the public the heritage and mementos of the well-remembered President of Chile, Salvador Allende.
Guided tours can be requested, four days in advance, by telephone or email.
The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00 to 19.00 hrs. On Mondays it is closed to the public. There is a cafeteria in the entrance hall.
Its telephone number is (56-2) 6814954, and the email is mssa@mssa.cl. The website is www.mssa.cl/.
Museo de Arte Popular Americano
The museum of Popular American Art was created in 1943 in commemoration of the first centenary of the Universidad de Chile. Several American governments sent pieces of folk art typical of their countries.
The museum houses collections from Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, México, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Venezuela and Chile.
The collections include pieces of pottery, basketwork, textiles, musical instruments, riding accoutrements, religious imagery, primitive painting, leather goods, and wood and stone carving, amongst other objects.
The museum is open from Monday to Friday from 10.00 to 12.00 hrs and from 14.30 to 16.00 hrs. For guided tours you should phone (56-2) 6822208 in advance.
It is located at Compañía 2691 Santiago. The telephone numbers are (56-2) 6821480 – 6822208. Its website is www.uchile.cl/cultura/mapa/index.htm
Museo del Ahorro (Banco del Estado de Chile)
The “Savings Museum” was created on the initiative of Andrés Sanfuentes Vergara, who ordered it with the aim of protecting this valuable cultural heritage for the benefit of the employees of the Chilean State Bank.
In the Museo del Ahorro you can visit the following rooms: Antonio Varas, Pasillo del Recuerdo, Sala de los Presidentes, Sala del Ahorro, Monedas y Billetes Antiguos, Galería Jorge Prat Echaurren, Sala Luis Barros Borgoña, and Sala de las Comunicaciones. It also has a library with valuable historical material dating from between 1855 and 1970.
The museum is open from Monday to Friday from 09.00 to 14.00 hrs.
It is located at Bandera 60-66, Subterráneo, in Santiago. The telephone number is (56-2) 6705582, email mcea@bech.cl and the website is www.geocities.com/museoahorro/
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