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| sea-side |
Rioja Palace | flowers clock |
Reņaca beach |
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| Wulff Castle |
sun set | Las Salinas beach |
sun set |
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| Granadilla Golf Club |
Botanic Garden | Sporting Club |
Vergara Palace |
On May,30,1978 the Chilean Government authorized the creation of the new city Viņa del Mar.
This proyect was an idea of the engineer Jose Francisco Vergara. In 1892 Salvador Vergara, son of Jose Francisco Vergara, commenced the development of the north bank of the Marga-Marga creek under the name of Poblacion Vergara, around the current Libertad Avenue, main street o f the city.
The establishment of Refinadora de Azucar de Viņa del Mar (Sugar Refining Company)CRAV, in 1873 and the arrival of the British Company of Lever & Murphy in 1883 gave the necessary economic push to transform the young city into one of the most important cities of Chile.
Viņa del Mar is known as the Tourist Capital of Chile, as well as the Garden City because of its beautiful gardens and parks.
The building of a military installation, Regimiento Coraceros in 1917, the Naval facilities in Las Salinas, and the housing of military and naval personnel furthered the city's growth.
Viņa del Mar counts with thirdteen beaches (aprox. 3.5 Kms.)The most important ones are located in the Reņaca area.
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A few buildings from the 1800s still remain. Most of them are located along Libertd Avenue, Quillota Street, Alvarez Street, and Quinta Vergara, a rather large park in the middle of the city.
Palacio Rioja, a magnificent mansion built by Fernando Rioja in 1907, located on Quillota Street, houses an environmental museum.
The Fonck Museum, located in Cuatro Norte Street, has a large exhibition of pre-columbian articles, and a large Moai ( Easter Island statue made of volcanic rock), the only one in mainland Chile, is also on display.
Palacio Carrasco, built by Emilio Carrasco in 1912, now houses the Municipal Library, and alsois used for art exhibitions. The building is also surrounded by nice gardens adorned with fine sculptures including a Rodin.
Palacio Vergara, located inside Quinta Vergara, was built by Blanca Vergara (daughter of Jose Francisco) in 1906 and it is now the Fine Art Museum of Viņa del Mar, owned by the Municipality of the city. It houses an exhibition of clasical paintings from the XVII Century ( Italian Scuola), and from XVI Century (Venetian Scuola). It also exhibits chilean classical paintings from the XX Century . It also houses the School of Fine Arts.
Palacio Brunet (also known as Castillo Yarur) was built in 1923 by Adolfo Brunet.It is located on Cerro Castillo, close to the Presidential mansion. Currently it is owned by Carabineros de Chile ( Chilean Police) and is used as a reception center for illustrious visitors. It was declared a National Monument in 2005.
Several educational Institutions are located in the city, such as: Universided Adolfo Ibaņez, Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso with its famous School of Architecture,Universidad de Viņa del Mar, a private university that counts with a number of campuses across the city and many others Private Universities and Technical Schools.
Viņa del Mar also houses a number of private Art Galleries that promote and sell Contemporary Chilean Art. Among them, MarPau Art Gallery, located in Valparaiso Avenue,is the one that exhibits the best of the chilean art.( www.marpau.com)
Extensive commercial remodelation in the 15 Norte Avenue area has seen most of the large Chilean retails chain settling in the area, which is now covered with large shopping malls, like Marina Arauco, cinemas, fast food stores and supermarkets.
The city has benefitted from mayor investments in infrastructure that have greatly improved the routes connecting Viņa del Mar with Santiago(capital of Chile), Valparaiso and Quilpue. A modern and efficient subway (Merval) connects Viņa del Mar with the cities of Limache and Valparaiso.
Viņa del Mar has a climate of smooth summers and temperate winters. The rains concentrate on winter seassom (May to August). In general dominates a pleasant spring climate during all the year. As a result of this temperate climate in its gardens and parks grow delicate floral species and vegetables offering a beautiful spectacle because of the variety and color of trees and flowers.
Viņa del Mar was declared a "sister city" of Sausalito, California USA in 1971. The city is also a "sister city" of Mar del Plata, Argentina, since 1993.
INformacion parcialmente extraida de www.visiteviņadelmar.cl y wikipedia.org
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