Shopping arcades in downtown Santiago stand out for their interesting array of shopping choices, including small clothes and handicrafts shops, as well as cafés and restaurants.
More than half of these arcades were built between 1930 and 1960, after Austrian urban planner Karl Brunner’s project to design the Civic Center offered incentives for those who considered incorporating them into their constructions.
By connecting streets and buildings, these arcades are a kind of public space that, despite the emergence of new shopping malls, have not lost their distinctive character and continue to be part of the identity of downtown Santiago. At the same time, they foster the continuance of trade on a smaller scale.
Today in Santiago there are about 77 commercial galleries, which are mostly near the Paseo Ahumada as a connector axis. Some of them are the “Portal Fernández Concha”, “Pasaje Agustin Edwards”, ”Galeria San Antonio and “Pasaje Matte”.
In 2016 the project Santiago Lateral was developed, which seeks to star up, revitalization strategies of galleries, adapting international management experiences in neighborhoods or commercial areas, associated to heritage centers.
Galleries
Portal Fernández Concha. South side Plaza de Armas
Portal Bulnes. East side Plaza de Armas
Galería pasaje Matte. Access by Estado, Huérfanos and Ahumada.
Galería Agustín Edwards. Access by Huérfanos, Ahumada, Compañía de Jesús and Bandera
Galería España. Access by Huérfanos and Estado
Galería Crillón. 1035 Agustinas St.
Galería Astor. 251-297 Estado St.
Galería Salustios Barrios. 806-818 Huérfanos St.
Galería Bandera Centro. 521 Bandera St
Galería Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo with Diagonal Cervantes St.
Galería Plaza de Armas. 839 Merced St.
Galería San Agustín. 140 San Antonio St.