Barrio Bellavista and Pablo Neruda’s House-Museum, La Chascona

Stretching between the northern bank of the Mapocho River and the wooded southern foot of Cerro San Cristóbal, Barrio Bellavista has served as Santiago’s bohemian, theatrical, and artistic quarter since the early 20th century. Its tree-shaded blocks are divided down the middle along Calle Pío Nono: the eastern half in Providencia features quiet residential terraces, independent theatres, and the courtyards of Patio Bellavista, while the western half in Recoleta is filled with open-air street murals, jazz clubs, and late-night bars.

La Chascona: Pablo Neruda and Matilde Urrutia’s Hillside Refuge

Tucked into a cul-de-sac at Fernando Márquez de la Plata 0192 against the base of Cerro San Cristóbal stands La Chascona, one of the three Chilean homes built by 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Pablo Neruda (alongside La Sebastiana in Valparaíso and Casa de Isla Negra on the coast). In 1953, Neruda purchased the steep hillside plot with its rushing stream to build a secret urban refuge for his future third wife, singer Matilde Urrutia, naming it La Chascona (from the Quechua word for tangled hair) in tribute to her red curls.

Working with exiled Catalan architect Germán Rodríguez Arias, Neruda turned the steep terrain into detached levels linked by outdoor stone stairs, bridges, and gardens. When Neruda died on 23 September 1973, twelve days after Chile’s military coup, soldiers had vandalised the house and flooded its canal; Matilde Urrutia insisted on holding his public wake inside the damaged rooms before restoring the estate. Today, audio-guided tours operated by the Fundación Pablo Neruda showcase:

• The Captain’s Dining Room and Bar: Outfitted like a ship’s cabin with curved wood panelling, portholes, coloured glass bottles, seashells, and tableware painted by Jean Lurçat.
• Diego Rivera’s Portrait of Matilde Urrutia: Painted in 1956, showing Matilde with two faces and the profile of Pablo Neruda hidden inside the outline of her red hair.
• The Upper Library and Nobel Medal: Reached past terraced gardens and the Estravagario cultural space; check the official Fundación Pablo Neruda site to book ahead.

Street Murals, Lapis Lazuli Workshops and Calle Constitución

West of Calle Pío Nono along Calle Dardignac, Antonia López de Bello, and Bombero Núñez, stucco walls are covered in large-scale murals forming the Museo a Cielo Abierto de Bellavista. East of Pío Nono around Calle Bellavista and Calle Constitución, artisan workshops cut and polish deep blue lapislázuli, Chile’s national stone mined in the Coquimbo Andes. From the foot of Pío Nono, Baquedano Metro station and Parque Forestal lie five minutes’ walk south across the river.