1.Plaza Muñoz Gamero
The wealth of Punta Arenas is reflected in the city’s historic center around the main square. Typically, знакомства with the Patagonian capital begins at the central square Plaza Muñoz Gamero, at the center of which stands a bronze statue of Fernand Magellan, created with donations from Patagonia’s most successful businessman, José Menéndez. At the lower part of the monument, Magellan is surrounded by sculptures of indigenous people. There is a belief that if you touch the hanging leg of the indigenous figure (one of the sculptures), good luck will follow you, and you will visit Patagonia again. A calm small square is surrounded by cypresses and other trees, and there is a tourist information point. Around the square, you can see old mansions built during the period of the city’s rapid development in the late 19th to early 20th centuries.
2.Palacio Sara Braun
Palacio Sara Braun is perhaps the most magnificent building in Punta Arenas. Its construction is further evidence of the enormous wealth brought by sheep farming in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. The design of Sara Braun’s palace was created by French architect Numa Maier in accordance with the canons that dominated Paris at the time. The building’s finishing work was carried out by masters who came from Europe; expensive antique furniture was also brought from the Old Continent. Today, Palacio Sara Braun is listed as one of Chile’s National Monuments. Inside the building there is the Club de la Unión and the José Nogueira hotel.
3. City cemetery
They say it’s impossible to truly understand a particular culture until you see their cemeteries. Punta Arenas’ city cemetery was opened in 1894. It resembles a miniature city with avenues, carefully maintained cypresses, the graves of European migrants, and the tombs of the city’s richest families. The official name is Cementerio Municipal Sara Braun. The enormous stone gates were donated in 1919 by Mrs. Sara Braun, the richest and most influential woman in Patagonia at that time. Members of prosperous Patagonian families lived in luxury all their lives, and after death found their final resting place in the cemetery’s richly adorned tombs in Punta Arenas.
One well-known site in the cemetery is the grave of Indio Desconocido (the “Unknown Indian”). This native Patagonian was found dead in 1929 and buried in the Punta Arenas cemetery. From the second half of the 20th century, rumors spread about his miraculous power. In 1969, a bronze statue and three walls were erected around the tomb thanks to donations.
4.Regional Magallanes Museum
The Menéndez family made their enormous fortune by supplying ships rounding Cape Horn and stopping in the port of Punta Arenas. In 1906, the Menéndezs completed construction of their splendid residence in the city center. In 1974, the palace was declared a National Monument of Chile, and in 1983, the Menéndez descendants donated the house and all its property to the state. Once, this magnificent mansion was open exclusively to the Patagonian elite; today it is open to everyone. At present, the Regional Magallanes Museum (Museo Regional de Magallanes) is located here. A small part of the museum is devoted to the early history of Patagonia, the region’s indigenous people, the weapons of the early European settlers, etc., but the main part showcases the rich furniture, tapestries, and works of art of one of the richest families in the region. Today, visitors can learn about the culture of Patagonia’s indigenous people only in museums, because almost all of them were killed by early settlers.
Traditionally, the Selk’nam were a nomadic people and lived by hunting. The Selk’nam had virtually no contact with the Spanish colonizers. European settlers arrived only in the late 19th century and began using most of the territory for estancias-large livestock farming ranches-thereby depriving the local people of their ancestral hunting grounds. In the Selk’nam worldview, sheep herds were game, not private property. Hunting sheep was perceived by white settlers as banditry. Armed detachments tracked down and killed the Selk’nam; this conflict became one of the little-known yet, at the same time, most monstrous genocides in human history, resulting in the near-complete destruction of Patagonia’s indigenous inhabitants. The richest citizens of Punta Arenas in the late 19th to early 20th centuries were directly involved in the Selk’nam genocide.
5. Penguin colony
Not far from Punta Arenas there are two of the largest penguin colonies in southern Chile. Each year from November to January, a 150,000-strong army of Magellan penguins-named after Chile’s southernmost region-arrives at Seno Otway (Seno Otway) and Isla Magdalena (Isla Magdalena) to breed. Visiting the penguin colonies is a hallmark of Punta Arenas and will leave the most unforgettable impressions.
In both colonies, visitors can get close to the penguins in their natural habitat areas. By nature, penguins are very curious and feel no fear of people. It is always interesting to watch their funny walk, their swimming, and how parents interact with the grown chicks. Penguin pairs share parenting duties equally: every morning at around 10:00 and at 5:00 in the evening, the penguin pairs swap responsibilities-one goes into the water to catch fish, while the other begins caring for their young.
It’s interesting to observe the penguins before they enter the water. First, in groups they approach the water and wait to see which one of them will be the first to go into the sea. Sometimes the waiting time can stretch to half an hour. After one of the penguins jumps into the water, all the others follow suit.
Magellanic penguins are the most nervous creatures among all penguin species; they are also called “jackass” (in translation “donkey”) because when they sense danger, they assume a threatening stance, raise their heads, and begin making sounds. Given the huge number of penguins in the colony, the noise is considerable.
The best place to see the penguins is Isla Magdalena. The penguin colony there is much larger compared to Seno Otway, but the trip takes more time (two hours each way, one hour on-site, and two hours back). Seno Otway is located about 65 km from Punta Arenas; the tour there lasts about 3-4 hours.
