Description of the attraction
The Alhambra Palace in Santiago with an area of 1200 sq. m was built in 1865 by the architect Manuel Aldunate. It is a replica of the Spanish Alhambra Palace in Granada and is a legacy of Moorish architecture. The Alhambra Palace in Santiago combines both the details of its original in Granada and the structure of Chilean buildings.
In 1940, its owner Julio Garrido donated the building to the National Society of Fine Arts. The doors of the palace were to be open only to students of this academy. The palace was damaged as a result of a strong earthquake on February 27, 2010, but this wonderful architectural monument survived. Most of the walls of the palace were covered with deep cracks, plaster was sprinkled in many places, and the number of students at the academy had to be halved. The very same building of the palace requires public and private investment for restoration. Such assistance is currently being negotiated with representatives of the Chilean and Moroccan governments.
The upkeep of the Alhambra Palace in Santiago is now funded through admission and student tuition for painting classes to repair damage not only caused by the earthquake, but also by termites and the building's shrinkage over its nearly 150-year existence.
This building was declared a National Monument of Chile in 1973. On the facade of the palace, lines from the Koran are carved, and in the central hall of the palace you can see lace arabesques and walls decorated with colorful tiles.
Due to damage, it is impossible to use most of the halls, so some of the works of famous artists of the last century, such as Pedro Juan Francisco Gonzalez-Lyra and many others, are kept in the academy's vaults and are inaccessible to visitors.
