Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins ( en, General Liberator Bernardo O'Higgins Avenue), popularly known as La Alameda (meaning, a street bordered by poplar trees), is the main avenue of Santiago, Chile. It runs east-west in the center of the greater urban area and is long, and it has up to 5 lanes in each direction. It was named after

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 east a ...

founding father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; August 20, 1778 – October 24, 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque-Spanish and Irish ancestry. Alth ...

. It was originally a branch of the

Mapocho River The River Mapocho ( es, Río Mapocho) ( Mapudungun: ''Mapu chuco'', "water that penetrates the land") is a river in Chile. It flows from its source in the Andes mountains onto the west and divides Chile's capital Santiago in two. Course The Mapo ...

History

The avenue is located on the former stream bed of a branch of the Mapocho River, which was drying up between 1560 and 1580. Such landforms were known by the Spaniards as '' Cañadas'', and from there the origin of its initial name of ''Cañada''. For many decades it was used as a landfill site, until it was converted into a boulevard by Bernardo O'Higgins during the first years of independence of the country and was named as ''Alameda de las Delicias''.

Description

Alameda Avenue originates immediately west of the

Plaza Baquedano Plaza Baquedano, commonly known as Plaza Italia, is a major landmark in Santiago, Chile. The plaza was inaugurated in 1928, being crowned by a monument made by Chilean sculptor Virgínio Arias and featuring General Manuel Baquedano, giving the ...

, as a continuation of Providencia Avenue, and runs in a generally southwesterly direction until its junction with

Chile Route 68 Chile Route 68 (Ruta 68) is a highway in central Chile. It runs from Santiago to Valparaíso. Route description It begins at the western terminus of Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins. In its first kilometers the highway is strai ...

. The south section of the initial stretch of the avenue is dominated by a cluster of

tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdicti ...

s called ''Remodelación San Borja''. On the opposite side of the Alameda, the city blocks are characterized by a continuous building frontage. This urban design is broken by the

Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral The Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral (GAM) (formerly known as the Diego Portales Building) is a cultural center located on 227 Av. Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins, in Santiago de Chile. The complex was originally built to serve as the headquarters fo ...

. The corner of the Alameda and Portugal Avenue is home to the headquarters of the

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (''PUC or UC Chile'') ( es, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) is one of the six Catholic Universities existing in the Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical universities i ...

. Heading west, the avenue skirts the southern edge of the

Cerro Santa Lucía Cerro is Spanish for "hill" or "mountain". Toponyms ;Bolivia: * Cerro Rico, the "Rich Mountain" containing silver ore near Potosi, Bolivia ;Brazil: * Cerro Branco, a municipality of Rio Grande do Sul *Cerro Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, a municip ...

. The following stretch of the Alameda consists of almost unbroken blocks of mostly office and commercial buildings interspersed with some historical buildings, including the

Biblioteca Nacional de Chile The National Library of Chile () is the national library of Chile. It is located on the Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins in Santiago, in a building completed in 1925, though its history reaches to the early nineteenth century before ...

, San Francisco Church, Club de la Unión and behind it the building housing the Santiago Stock Exchange, as well as the Casa Central de la Universidad de Chile, old building serving as headquarters for the University of Chile, which faces the Paseo Ahumada. West of the just mentioned street and a half block north of the Alameda is located the Edificio Ariztía. West of San Francisco Church, the Alameda's median widens to accommodate a park. The avenue bisects a large rectangular area lined with walls of government buildings, whose core portion is home to the Palacio de la Moneda. West of Amunátegui Street stands the Torre Entel, a landmark communication tower. The Norte-Sur axis of the Autopista Central passes underneath Alameda. From here the average height of the buildings decreases significantly. Between Brasil Avenue and Cumming Avenue, it borders the Barrio Concha y Toro. Leaving the Santiago (commune), central district at Matucana Avenue, the Alameda enters into Estación Central. The Santiago Estación Central railway station and the main campus of the University of Santiago, Chile, University of Santiago are located here. Crossing Las Rejas Avenue, the avenue forms the boundary between Estación Central to the south and Lo Prado to the north. The Alameda terminates at a partial Y interchange.

Monuments

La Alameda's principal monuments are dedicated to the military heroes in Chile's history. Near the La Moneda Palace are the statues of José de San Martín, Manuel Bulnes Prieto, and

. Near the intersection of the Autopista Central and La Alameda, there is erected the statue to the heroes of the Battle of La Concepción. A beautiful mosaic was constructed at the edge of Santa Lucía Hill in honor of the poet Gabriela Mistral; there are also dozens of other monuments to persons of national and international importance along the central floe of La Alameda.

Santiago Metro

Underneath the avenue runs Line 1 (depicted on subway maps as Santiago de Chile L1

), the main line of the Santiago Metro. The transit agency's headquarters are located at the corner of La Alameda and Lord Cochrane street. From west to east, the stations along La Alameda are: *Las Rejas metro station, Las Rejas *Ecuador metro station, Ecuador *San Alberto Hurtado metro station, San Alberto Hurtado *Universidad de Santiago metro station, Universidad de Santiago *Estación Central metro station, Estación Central *Unión Latinoamericana metro station, Unión Latinoamericana *República metro station (Santiago), República *Los Héroes metro station, Los Héroes Santiago de Chile L2

*La Moneda metro station, La Moneda *Universidad de Chile metro station, Universidad de Chile Santiago de Chile L3

*Santa Lucía metro station (Santiago), Santa Lucía Santiago de Chile L9

*Universidad Católica metro station, Universidad Católica *Baquedano metro station, Baquedano Santiago de Chile L5

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'higgins Streets in Chile sv:Santiago de Chile#Geografi