Isla Negra is a coastal area in

El Quisco El Quisco is a Chilean city and commune in San Antonio Province, Valparaíso Region. Located in the country's central coast, it serves as a popular summer resort for the population of Santiago and forms part of the Coast of Poets, a cultural spa ...

commune in central

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

, some 45 km (70 km by road) south of Valparaiso and 96 km (110 km by road) west of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

Pablo Neruda

Isla Negra is best known as the residence of Chilean poet

Pablo Neruda Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973), better known by his pen name and, later, legal name Pablo Neruda (; ), was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Nerud ...

, who lived there at

Casa de Isla Negra Casa de Isla Negra was one of Pablo Neruda's three houses in Chile. It is located at Isla Negra, a coastal area of El Quisco commune, located about 45 km south of Valparaíso and 96 km west of Santiago. It was his favourite house and ...

(with long periods of travel and exile) from 1939 until his death in 1973. The area was named by Neruda, after the dark outcrop of rocks just offshore. It literally means "black island" in Spanish. The Casa de Isla Negra is now a museum. Every year on Neruda's birthday (12 July), there are celebrations, both at the house and in the artisans' square nearby. There are poetry readings, music and picnics on the beach.

Community

Although most tourists come in buses to see Neruda's house, there is also a community of writers, artists and artisans who live in Isla Negra and the surrounding area. It is a favourite holiday spot for middle-class families from Santiago.

References

Populated places in San Antonio Province Populated coastal places in Chile Pablo Neruda Coasts of Valparaíso Region {{Valparaíso-geo-stub