Looking for a Place to Confess in Santiago Chile?
Look no further.
In the midst of broken glass, concrete, graffiti, reggaetón, highly concentrated pollution, speeding traffic and screaming cancer buses a miniature cathedral called Corpus Domini is being quietly cared for by the Little Nuns of Perpetual...something-or-other. Anyway, that's what I gathered from the man sweeping the sidewalk in front of the church, where at night I once saw a crazy albino woman make nest, surrounded by cats.
But why, amidst this crime infested ghetto of the poor and lower middle class called Barrio Brasil in Santiago, Chile, such a superb and ancient piece of architecture?
Sweeping off a plaque embedded in the sidewalk, the man explained that this Church, about 130 years old, is in a historical neighborhood of Santiago, a now-crumbling but once-upon-a-time apex of the aristocracy. (The Barrio Brasil neighborhood is somewhat West Center Santiago, a city who's history has seen affluence consistently head for hills, the pre-Andean foothills, east toward Providencia now Las Condes, Apoquindo, La Dehesa, gripping frightfully to the jagged spires at the Peaks of the Andes if they could).
Looking up from the outside some of the windows are broken because recently some "delinquents", as they're called here, threw rocks at the windows. But it'll be repaired, mañana, he told me.
Anyway, it's amazingly well-kept considering Chile's pitiful track-record when it comes to cultural patrimony. I assume it's because the Catholic Church rather than the government is taking care of it. The government sucks Paz Froimovich dick and sends the wrecking ball to some of Santiago's most treasured architectural relics. But that's a different story.
Anyway, if you're in the neighborhood (of Barrio Brasil, Santiago that is) then check out Corpus Domini near the corner of Rosas and General Baquedano. The guys said it does get visited fairly often by tourists and architecture students from local universities.
In the midst of broken glass, concrete, graffiti, reggaetón, highly concentrated pollution, speeding traffic and screaming cancer buses a miniature cathedral called Corpus Domini is being quietly cared for by the Little Nuns of Perpetual...something-or-other. Anyway, that's what I gathered from the man sweeping the sidewalk in front of the church, where at night I once saw a crazy albino woman make nest, surrounded by cats.
But why, amidst this crime infested ghetto of the poor and lower middle class called Barrio Brasil in Santiago, Chile, such a superb and ancient piece of architecture?
Sweeping off a plaque embedded in the sidewalk, the man explained that this Church, about 130 years old, is in a historical neighborhood of Santiago, a now-crumbling but once-upon-a-time apex of the aristocracy. (The Barrio Brasil neighborhood is somewhat West Center Santiago, a city who's history has seen affluence consistently head for hills, the pre-Andean foothills, east toward Providencia now Las Condes, Apoquindo, La Dehesa, gripping frightfully to the jagged spires at the Peaks of the Andes if they could).
Looking up from the outside some of the windows are broken because recently some "delinquents", as they're called here, threw rocks at the windows. But it'll be repaired, mañana, he told me.
Anyway, it's amazingly well-kept considering Chile's pitiful track-record when it comes to cultural patrimony. I assume it's because the Catholic Church rather than the government is taking care of it. The government sucks Paz Froimovich dick and sends the wrecking ball to some of Santiago's most treasured architectural relics. But that's a different story.
Anyway, if you're in the neighborhood (of Barrio Brasil, Santiago that is) then check out Corpus Domini near the corner of Rosas and General Baquedano. The guys said it does get visited fairly often by tourists and architecture students from local universities.
posted by Chileno @ 2:18 PM
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1 Comments:
So sad many areas of Santiago were abandoned. The Alameda had many fine examples of 19th century architecture that were torn down. The Palacio Cuasiño was once surrounded by other stately casonas who were not preserved. Many of these well-to-do neighborhoods became undesirable when people from the provincias started immigrating to the capital looking for work around the 1950's. The elegant Santiaguinos not happy their city was beening bombarded by peasants left the area of the center city. As people followed them they kept moving upwards. This is why some of the posh neighborhods in Chile have a "shelf life" of about 20-years before transforming into a middle class enclave. Look at the once chic "Los leones" neighborhood.
Speaking of Nuñoa, that neighborhood had these quaint little 1920's chalets that are becoming rarer. They are being torn down to put some nondescrip building in its place.
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