Overview
Historically known as Calle de la Bandera (Street of the Flag).
At the beginning of the 19th century, Pedro Chacón Morales set up his shop at the junction of Calle de la Bandera with Huérfanos. This shop brimmed full of gold and silver threads, semi-fine linens, cotton lining materials, and countless items from France that were not otherwise sold in town.
Given the poor economic situation, this merchant could not sell any of his goods and was forced to stock them in the cellar below his shop. He used the long hours of waiting in the shop to reflect on the design that the Nation’s flag should have.
In 1818 the nation pledged allegiance to the new national flag, with celebrations for all. Male participants danced and acted out pantomimes, dressed in a variety of ways but keeping a uniformity with the colors of the flag, in other words, donning red caps, while shirts and blue denim trousers.
The following year, the idea was to give more importance to the anniversary, but there were not enough flags in town, as the flags kept by the State had been loaned out to the Southern Army and to the Liberators of Peru. For this reason, the Government asked the Governor of Valparaíso to provide a flag to be flown in Plaza de Armas.
The waiting that ensued and his ingenuity drove Pedro Chacón to raise an enormous national flag on the front of his shop, at a time when not even the Government had one. The name of Bandera (flag) spread to the area surrounding the shop and later to the entire street.
And this is how trade on this street began to spring to life and the merchant in gold and silver threads eventually became a Congressman.
Bandera boulevard
In December of 2017 the Bandera boulevard was inaugurated, an unprecedented urban intervention that ranges from Moneda street to Compañía de Jesús; and whose main characteristic is the existence of a floor-level painting of 3,300 square meters.
The project creates three different meeting spaces, united by floor level painting that has a specific design for each section. In all its extension, it combines architecture, art and design, and allows people go through a geometric fabric.
The first, which goes from Moneda to Agustinas street, is a Social Connection Space that is transformed into a meeting zone with benches, high tables and bleachers. The second is an Artistic Space with Sustainable Inspiration, which includes installation of flower beds, bike racks and a sustainable artistic structure with photovoltaic energy. And the last space, that goes from Huérfanos to Compañía, has a Heritage Characteristic, It is next to the Pre-Columbian Art museum and will have exhibition facilities and rest modules.
From June, 2018, the Bandera Walking street was equipped with a four intelligent totem where santiaguinos and visitors will be able to take them selves photographies, to see cultural agenda, to read news and more. In addition, intelligent lights were installed by sensors, in order to monitor the air quality and to see availability of parkings.
Go for a walk through the new Bandera boulevard and enjoy a meeting place, coexistence and recreation.
Photography. Lorena Bruna, Tour Guide