-4 -4 Chile •Santiago
Location: Chile
Population (2009): 200,792 (city), 7,2 million (metro.) Founded: February 12, 1541
Santiago, also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation (Greater Santiago). It is located in the country’s central valley, at an elevation of 520 m above mean sea level. Although Santiago is the capital, legislative bodies meet in the coastal town of Valparaíso, 120km to the west. Santiago was founded by Spanish Conquistador Pedro de Valdivia on February 12, 1541 with the name Santiago de la Nueva Extremadura, as a homage to Saint James and Extremadura, Valdivia’s birth place in Spain. The founding ceremony was held on Huelén Hill (later renamed Cerro Santa Lucía). Valdivia chose the location of Santiago because of its climate, abundant vegetation and the ease with which it could be defended—the Mapocho River then split into two branches and rejoined further downstream, forming an island.
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JOjO And His City I
moved to Santiago de Chile in the summer of 2009. Chile is in fact a very interesting nation; one of those places struggling between its past and its present. The country came out of a very brutal military dictatorship in 1990, however, despite being one of Latin America’s most prosperous and free-minded countries of today, the social and cultural gap between the old and the new Chile is at times irreconcilable – let us not forget that divorce was illegal until 2004. Santiago de Chile is grey and polluted. Moreover most people in the streets wear dark and dull clothes – apparently nobody wants to stand out of the crowd. In the beginning I found the city a bit sad, in fact Chileans are considered the most timid people of Latin America. It was only when I met local painter Jojo Salazar when I got to discover the city’s magnetism. His messy curls and passion for colourful clothes make Jojo a very unusual character. But he was not the only one adding colour to Santiago. Jojo’s apartment is the meting point for a large community of young artists. His place was big, cold and chaotically organised. “One of the walls in my room was totally broken down by the last earthquake, it was nice, I had a very good panoramic view of the street”, he told me using a humoristic tone.
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