Parroquia de la Veracruz

The Parroquia de la Veracruz features a distinct, yellow neoclassical facade that rises above the surrounding pavement. Designed by the architect Joaquín Toesca in the late eighteenth century, the church sits on the site where Pedro de Valdivia originally placed a cross during the founding of Santiago in fifteen forty-one. During the Chilean War of Independence, the building served as a hospital for wounded soldiers. A massive bell, cast from melted-down cannons used in those battles, once hung in the tower.