Overview
A building erected at the turn of the 20th century. The newspaper Diario Ilustrado, one of Santiago’s conservative Catholic dailies, operated there.
Its structure stands out on one side of the La Moneda Palace, with a classical French academic design, contrasting with the other public and ministerial buildings in the Civic Quarter.
The building was used by the Santiago Intendency, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Regional Presidential Delegation of Santiago and since July 2022, it has housed the Santiago Metropolitan Regional Government.
It was declared a National Monument in 1976.
History
The building was erected to house the main offices of El Diario Ilustrado, the press media of the Conservative Party, founded in 1902.
The owners of the newspaper, the conservatives Joaquín Echeñique Gandarillas and Alberto González Errázuriz, bought the land in 1908, and commissioned the plans for the building from architect Manuel Cifuentes, the son of their leading partisan Abdón Cifuentes. Construction began in 1914 and ended two years later. The design of the property is very similar to that of French buildings erected in the same period.
In 1928, the State purchased the building to make it the headquarters of the Santiago Intendency. The initiative fitted within the project of President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo’s administration to establish a civic quarter around the La Moneda Palace, a project that gave rise to the current layout of the surrounding area.
Morandé, 93, Santiago.