La Chascona
What is La Chascona?
La Chascona is one of Pablo Neruda’s houses. It is in a vibrant neighborhood in Santiago called Bellavista, which is worth a visit in itself. The house was built as a present for his then girlfriend and later wife Matilde Urrutia. La Chascona was his nickname for her.
The house contains a mural of Matilde that was painted by Diego Rivera, the Mexican muralist. The painting includes Neruda’s face hidden in her hair.
Visiting La Chascona:
Fernando Márquez de la Plata 0192, Barrio Bellavista, Providencia, Santiago, Chile.
The museum is closed on Mondays. On other days of the week it is open from 10:00 AM to either 6:00 PM or 7:00 PM depending on the time of the year.
Admission is $8,000 Chilean pesos per person.
There are audio guides in various languages.
La Chascona is located in a neighborhood in Santiago called Bellavista. The neighborhood has a lot of interesting buildings, street art, and restaurants.
It is located very close to the Parque Metropolitano de Santiago. The entrance to the park closest to the funicular is a very short walk from La Chascona.
It is also close to the Santiago Zoo.
Who is Pablo Neruda?
Pablo Neruda is a very famous Chilean poet. One of his books of poetry, Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada (Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Desperation) is one of the bestselling books of poetry in Spanish. He won the Nobel prize for literature in 1971.
You can purchase a copy of his book with the poems in both Spanish and English here.
He served as a political diplomat to several different countries. He was also a politician, and functioned as an advisor for his friend Salvador Allende, the former president of Chile.
Pablo Neruda also had two other homes in Chile which are also open as museums. La Sebastiana in Velparaíso, and Isla Negra in El Quisco.
