Formerly called Calle de La Compañía.
In 1593 there used to be a poor little chapel built by the Jesuits after their arrival in Chile. Thirty years later, the congregation showed the people the sumptuous temple of the Society of Jesus. Its three naves were built in white carved stone laid on plaster.
The sermons given by the Jesuits, skillful orators, began to draw in numerous parishioners who would file in procession through the narrow street into Plaza de Armas. The pious female believers who used to attend the Jesuit fathers’ daily festivities were the first to call this street “de la Compañía”.
The church was rebuilt on several occasions due to the earthquakes that battered the city, but it was totally destroyed by the fire that broke out on December 8, 1863.
In the garden of the former National Congress, on the precise spot where the Main Altar used to be, stands a white marble statue of Mary Immaculate, praying for the martyrs who lost their lives in the fire “de la Compañía”.
Photography. Lorena Bruna, Tour Guide