Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino

Top choice in Santiago


Exquisite pottery from most major pre-Columbian cultures is the backbone of Santiago's best museum, the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino. As well as dozens of intricately molded anthropomorphic vessels, star exhibits include hefty Maya stone columns, towering Mapuche totems and a fascinating Andean textile display.

More unusual are the wooden vomit spatulas used by Amazonian shamans before taking psychoactive powders.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Santiago attractions

1. Catedral Metropolitana

0.11 MILES

Towering above the Plaza de Armas is the neoclassical Catedral Metropolitana, built between 1748 and 1800. Bishops celebrating Mass on the lavish main…

2. Plaza de Armas

0.12 MILES

Since the city's founding in 1541, the Plaza de Armas has been its symbolic heart. In colonial times a gallows was the square's grisly centerpiece; today…

3. Museo Histórico Nacional

0.16 MILES

Colonial furniture, weapons, paintings, historical objects and models chart Chile's colonial and republican history at the Museo Histórico Nacional. After…

4. Palacio de la Moneda

0.27 MILES

Chile's presidential offices are in the Palacio de la Moneda. The ornate neoclassical building was designed by Italian architect Joaquín Toesca in the…

5. Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda

0.35 MILES

Underground art takes on a new meaning in one of Santiago's newer cultural spaces: the Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda beneath Plaza de la Ciudadanía. A…

6. Mercado Central

0.36 MILES

Gleaming piles of fresh fish and crustaceans atop mounds of sparkling ice thrill foodies and photographers alike at the Mercado Central. Look for congrio …

7. Iglesia de San Francisco

0.42 MILES

The first stone of the austere Iglesia de San Francisco was laid in 1586, making it Santiago's oldest surviving colonial building. Its sturdy walls have…

8. Edificio Radicales

0.42 MILES

Nowhere else in Santiago can you stop by an art gallery, check out an independent film, do a bit of coworking, grab a pisco sour and purchase a sex toy…