Biblioteca Santiago Severin is a public library located in Valparaiso, Chile. It was the first public library created with the consent of the Chilean government and was established on February 27, 1873. [1] It holds 80,000 volumes. The current building was built between 1912 and 1919, was damaged during the February 27, 2010 earthquake and later restored. It was declared National Monument in 1998. [2]
In its early years, the library was originally housed within some available rooms of the Courts of Justice before then being moved to another location on what is today Calle Edwards between 1912 and 1919. During this time, Santiago Severin Espina, a businessman and philanthropist from Valparaíso, Chile began donating funds to begin the construction of a more suitable and permanent building to house the library’s growing collection. This structure was designed by the architects Arnaldo Barison and Renato Schiavon, and built by the engineer Augusto Geiger. [3] The library itself was built in Neoclassical-Renaissance architectural style, and featured several prominent aspects of this style including pilasters and columns. The original plans as specified by the architects included that the building be 58 meters long, 12 meters wide, and 15 meters high, and maintain the form of an acute rectangle surrounded by four streets. This was in order to ensure that passersby on the street would be provided with a complete overview of the whole building. After the building was completed in 1919, the collection was officially moved into the current building which was named for its benefactor, Santiago Severin. In the 1980s the library was reopened after undergoing several important refurbishments to the original construction including a new basement and additions to its various interior rooms and collections. However, after a powerful earthquake on February 27, 2010, the library sustained significant damage which resulted in the structure requiring further reconstruction and restoration efforts leaving the library inoperable until the following year. Donations provided by various institutions such as Universidad Católica de Valparaíso and the Consejo de la Cultura y las Artes, allowed for the rebuilding of the library and the future development of additional infrastructure improvements including accessibility to patrons with disabilities, updated lighting and furniture. Today, Biblioteca Santiago Severin is one of several regional libraries that make up the Sistema Nacional de Bibliotecas Públicas de la Dirección de Bibliotecas Archivos y Museos (National System of Public Libraries of the Directorate of Libraries, Archives, and Museums.) In addition, it was declared a Historical Monument of Chile in 1998 by the Ministry of Interior. [4]
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 Region, which has a population of 8 million, representing nearly 40% of Chile's total population. Most of the city is situated between 500–650 m (1,640–2,133 ft) above sea level.
Valparaíso is a major city, commune, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the Valparaíso Region, Chile.
Viña del Mar is a city and commune on central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as La Ciudad Jardín, Viña del Mar is located within the Valparaíso Region, and it is Chile's fourth largest city with a population of 324,836. Viña del Mar is also part of the Greater Valparaíso area, the country's second largest metropolitan area, after the Metropolitan area of Santiago. The Greater Valparaíso Area is home to five municipalities: Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, Concon, Quilpue and Villa Alemana.
Estación Mapocho is a former railway station that, since 1994, has been refitted as a cultural centre that hosts many kinds of events.
The Iglesia de La Matriz del Salvador is a church in the city of Valparaíso, Chile. Located in the heart of the port district of the city, surrounded by cobblestone streets and houses it has a historical importance in the city and was declared a National Monument of Chile in 1971.
Agustín Ross Cultural Centre, previously known as Casino Ross, is the cultural center of the city of Pichilemu in Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region, Chile. It was constructed between 1906 and 1909 at the request of politician Agustín Ross Edwards. The structure of the cultural center is very similar to that of the Grand Trianon in Versailles, France.
San Francisco Church is a Catholic church located in Barón Hill, Valparaíso, Chile. The church served as lighthouse to the navigants who were arriving Valparaíso until the early 20th century, being the first recognizable point of the city. Valparaíso is often nicknamed with the diminutive form of Francisco: Pancho.
Trolleybuses in Valparaíso, Chile, have provided a portion of the public transit service since 1952. The trolleybus system is the second-oldest in South America. The originally state-owned system has been privately owned since 1982, and since 1994 it has been Chile's only operational trolleybus system. Almost half of its vehicles were built in 1946–52 by the Pullman-Standard Company, and they are the oldest trolleybuses in regular service anywhere in the world. Those vehicles were collectively declared a national monument by the Chilean government in 2003. They helped the city gain its designation by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, and have been called "a heritage sight in their own right" by at least one travel writer.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Santiago, Santiago Province, Chile.
Pichilemu, originally known as Pichilemo, is a beach resort city and commune in central Chile, and capital of Cardenal Caro Province in the O'Higgins Region. The commune comprises an urban centre and twenty-two villages, including Ciruelos, Cáhuil, and Cardonal de Panilonco. It is located southwest of Santiago. Pichilemu had over 13,000 residents as of 2012.
The St. James Cathedral also called Valparaíso Cathedral is a cathedral church of Catholic worship, seat of the Diocese of Valparaíso, in Chile. It is located in El Almendral neighborhood, on the east side of the Plaza de la Victoria and on the flat land of the city.
The Plaza Sotomayor is a plaza in Valparaíso, Chile. It is named after Rafael Sotomayor. The square is lined by buildings occupying full block-fronts of the streets that flank it. The focus of the square is the monument that honors the Chilean sailors who fell during the Battle of Iquique and the Battle of Punta Gruesa. The plaza and surrounding buildings was designated a Zona Típica on January 23, 1979.
Palacio Baburizza is the former residence of Croatian businessman Pascual Baburizza located in Valparaíso, Chile. It was built in 1916 by Italian architects, and eventually turned into a museum in 1971, and declared a historic monument in 1976.
The Biblioteca de Santiago (BDS) is a public library in downtown Santiago, Chile. It was inaugurated on November 11, 2005 by the then president of Chile Ricardo Lagos. The library is operated by the Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural, and is the largest and most advanced public library in Chile. The library occupies an entire city block bounded by Agustinas, Matucana, Moneda and Chacabuco Streets.
The Casa Central de la Universidad de Chile, also known as Palacio de la Universidad de Chile, is the main building for the Universidad de Chile, and is located at 1058 Alameda Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins, in Santiago, Chile. The building dates from 1872, and currently houses the rectorate, rooms used for ceremonial events and the Andrés Bello Archives, so-named to honor the lawyer who founded the university. It was declared a National Monument of Chile in 1974.
The Cementerio N° 1 de Valparaíso is a cemetery located in the Panteón Hill, immediately north of the Cementerio de Disidentes, in Valparaíso, Chile. Created in 1825, it was declared as a National Monument of Chile in 2005, within the category of Historic Monuments.
The Edificio de la Comandancia en Jefe de la Armada de Chile, also known as Edificio de la Intendencia de Valparaíso, because it was a purpose-built Intendencia, is a building designed in an eclectic style with Renaissance Revival architecture elements, which rises 5 floors in height and covers 8,000 square metres (86,000 sq ft). The main facade of the building faces the Plaza Sotomayor of Valparaíso and the Monument to the Heroes of Iquique.
The Palacio Pereira is a historic neoclassical mansion located at the corner of San Martín and Huérfanos streets, in downtown Santiago, Chile. Built in the second half of the 19th century, it was declared a Historic Monument in 1981, but its deterioration was not stopped and remained abandoned for several decades.
Juana Ross Edwards was a Chilean philanthropist. She built and maintained three hospitals, six nursing homes, a hospice, an orphanage, and countless schools.
