On 12th February of 1541, Pedro de Valdivia, heading the expedition that had left Peru a few months earlier, founded the city of Santiago in the name of the Spanish Crown and the Catholic Church. At that time, Santiago covered an urban area limited by the Mapocho River on the north side and by a small arm of the river to the south, known as La Cañada.
Colonial life developed around a few blocks, set out like a chessboard, with Plaza de Armas as its political, administrative, social, commercial and religious center.