The neighborhood located south of Matta Av. was born in the mid XIXth century, from little villages located around streets San Diego, Santa Rosa, Carmen and San Isidro. They were settlements out of the city and agricultural and cattle activities were found in them.
This area was favored by the high society of the time; with the countryside being the perfect place to build their adobe mansions. Beginning in 1828 the creation of “Alameda de los monos” or “Cañada de los Monos”, today Manuel Antonio Matta Av., served as the location for a weekly fair of animals and started to define the commercial character of this area until today.
From 1875 the south neighborhood block division appeared, with sales beginning to the people. In the first half of the XXth century more organized housing assemblies started to appear, some were enterprise projects, inexpensive and good quality housing for workers or people from factories. An example of this are the neighborhoods that started to be settled, like Huemul town, built in 1910 to give workers, an assembling with school, church and theater; or Yarur town, built by the owners of the factory, who provided a school, a stadium and a first- aid clinic.
The 23 December 2015, the Council of National Monuments approved the declaration of National Monument in the category of Typical Zone for the neighborhood Matta Sur.
It is an area of 189 hectares, located between Santa Elena, Coquimbo, Zenteno, San Diego, Santa Rosa, Carmen and Ñuble streets.
The declaration is the result of a joint effort, developed since 2010 by neighbors, the Municipality of Santiago and the Council of National Monuments, to recognize the historical value of the neighborhood allowing new buildings are in harmony with the surroundings and value the heritage, which is concentrate in its streets.
Nowadays, this whole area presents the contrast between quiet life of its towns and squares, and the typical corners of popular commerce and other little shops, like the furniture stores in Matta Av., hardware stores and spare parts stores located on 10 de Julio St. or food markets, clothing and curiosities of Franklin and Bio-Bio Market.
