Culture in Chile: a trip around its towns, museums and traditions

From the most ancient mummies in the world to the mystery of the Moai on Rapa Nui, get ready for a trip around Chilean culture.

Our country has a rich cultural and patrimonial heritage characterized by great geographic diversity. Chile is the home of seven places declared World Heritage sites by the UNESCO, in addition to an important variety of museums and different experiences led by our indigenous people, with unique and contrasting features.

Would you like to know more? Take a look at these culture experiences in Chile you can’t miss:

1. Chinchorro mummies: the oldest in the world

Photo: Sernatur

In the Arica y Parinacota Region you will find the Chinchorro mummies, the most ancient in the world with vestiges over 7,000 years old. They belong to a millenary culture that inhabited the coasts of the Atacama Desert until 1,500 B.C., so they are fundamental archaeological remains to understand human history.

Mummies as well as other objects related to the Chinchorro culture are found in the San Miguel de Azapa Archaeological Museum and in the Colón 10 Site Museum, in Arica. Get ready to enjoy a real trip to the past!

• Check everything you need to know about the Chinchorro mummies here.

2. Rapa Nui

Photo: Sernatur

Rapa Nui is an exclusive and unique island in the world, with a millenary history marked by extreme isolation which they developed unique characteristics with. The mystery of moai, gigantic statues of standing stones around their ancestors, are an enigma that is still fascinating to this day.

Dance, crafts, painting and many more cultural experiences await you on Easter Island. You can’t miss Orongo, the ceremonial city, where the Birdman ritual used to take place in the past, as well as visiting historical places such as Ahu Vinaku, Ahu Tongiraki or Ahu Akahanga, known as the belly button of the world.

• Check our schedules for Rapa Nui here.

3. Visit the museums in Chile

Photo: Sernatur

In the museums in Chile you’ll discover the latest cultural vanguards and you’ll be able to appreciate historical art and to get to know the events that have marked our history in greater depth.

In Santiago, the most important museums are the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Museum of Fine Arts), the Museo de Historia Nacional (National Museum of Natural History), the Museo de Memoria y de Derechos Humanos (Museum of Memory and Human Rights) and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (Museum of Contemporary Art), among others.

• Find out more about the museums in Santiago in the following article.

While in regions, you can’t miss:

• The museum-houses of Pablo Neruda in the Valparaíso Region. These are places that tell the story of the Nobel Prize in Literature winner. You’ll be surprised by its incalculably valued objects and its beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean.
• The intriguing Meteorite Museum in San Pedro de Atacama, which has the largest number of  meteorites in the world.
• The museums of Santa Cruz in the Colchagua Valley, that tell the story of a zone marked by wine production.
• The Castillo de Niebla Site Museum, placed in an old Spanish fortress from the XVII century. It’s one of the must-sees on the Valdivia-Corral circuit, in the south of Chile.

4. World Heritage sites in Chile

Photo: Sernatur

In Chile, there are seven places declared World Heritage sites by the UNESCO. In addition to those already mentioned on Rapa Nui and Chinchorro Mummies, there are other five places internationally recognized for their cultural value:

• Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works: Ghost towns in the middle of the Atacama Desert that had their golden era when Chile was the biggest producer of saltpeter in the world. Paying them a visit is thrilling.
• Historic Quarter of Valparaíso: Elevators, ladders and colorful buildings create the landscapes of this city known as the Jewel of the Pacific, where culture is present in every corner.
• Sewell Mining Town: This mining camp located next to the Andes Mountain Range will shock you with its vertical architecture.
• Churches of Chiloé: The land of myths and legends, visiting Chiloé is a fascinating experience, and its churches show the cultural syncretism between Spaniards and Huilliches during the XVI century.
• Qhapaq Ñan: The road system of the Inca Empire extended for more than 30,000 kilometers in South America, meeting its end in the north of Chile. Remains of this old road are still there, a testimony of ingenuity and organizational skills of the Inca people.

5. Indigenous tourism

Photo: Sernatur

Learn about the ancestral culture of Chile in the hands of representatives from our indigenous people. Our country has enormous ancestral wealth!

For your information, the main indigenous ethnicities in Chile are: Mapuche, Aymara, Rapa Nui, Atacameño, Quechua, Colla, Diaguita, Chango, Kaweskar, Yagán and Selk’nam.

You must visit the museums and historical sites of these peoples, until you have deep conversations, and you enjoy their exquisite cuisine. Come to discover indigenous tourism in Chile.