La Moneda

Above is the front view of La Moneda, where you can see a statue of Salvador Allende, who was assassinated in this same building.

For National Heritage Day (Dia del Patrimonio), all the museums in the city were free up until 2 PM. That Sunday morning I decided to go to La Moneda, which is the equivalent of the White House, except that the Chilean President doesn't actually live here. It more serves as a location where he/she formally receives diplomatic guests. Initially the building was where all the money was made, hence the name "moneda". Besides serving as a receiving place, La Moneda houses many fine works of art from all over Chile.

Above  is the Chilean crest, with a deer on the left and a condor on the right. To the right is one of the many paintings (sorry for the blurriness). Even though I arrived a good hour and a half before La Moneda opened, there were already a ton of people in line waiting. While inside, the crowd was very pushy, and I didn't feel there was a whole lot of time to take pictures or read the material that was there. If I had the chance to go again, I would not have gone on el Dia de Patrimonio.

This room is the official press conference room, where the president holds all of their special announcements and meetings.

Fun Fact: The Chilean Congress is not actually in the capital, Santiago. They meet instead in Valparaiso, a coastal city two hours away from Santiago.

Some of the finery of the rooms. La Moneda is a lot larger than the white house, and occupies a whole block by itself. In the middle is a large open courtyards, one which I have pictures of later.

This picture is a Pablo Picasso on exhibit at La Moneda.

Me with the Carabineros, the police force in Chile.

To the right is the Papa-mobil! When the Pope (el Papa) came to visit Chile, the government commissioned this car with glass windows so that the people could see the Pope as he passed by, while he was still in the safety of the car. Today it is kept on exhibit with the dummies.

This is me with the cannon "Lightning". His (her?) brother (sister?) is off to the right.

This is an example of southern Chile art, carved from wood.

Above: Another Picasso? I can't remember. Below is an old tapestry. Everything was all so noisy and crowded it was difficult to make sure I understood what everything was.

Some rooms and a tapestry in La Moneda.

These seashells above are here in honor of Pablo Neruda. He loved the sea, and had a collection of rare and odd seashells in his home in Isla Negra. Some of the shells were donated to La Moneda by his last wife.

Below is the Catholic altar that is a permanent part of La Moneda, as a door off of one of the courtyards.