Description of the attraction
The Chilean National History Museum is a public institution and is administered by the Directorate of Libraries, Archives and Museums. Its mission is to provide open access to the country's history by collecting, preserving, researching and disseminating Chile's heritage.
In 1873, at the initiative of the mayor of Santiago Benjamin Vicuña Macenna, a temporary exhibition of ancient artifacts, Exposición del Coloniaje, was organized, which was housed in the building of the former residence of the governor of Chile, which currently houses the General Post Office, the headquarters of the Post de Chile. In 1874, based on the idea of creating a permanent history museum, this exhibition, with minor additions, was moved to the castle in the Cerro Santa Lucia de Santiago area.
In the first decade of the twentieth century, the director of the National Library, Louis Mont-Mont, proposed to organize a new historical exhibition. A new exhibition with a large collection of artifacts opened in a mansion located on Monjitas Street, between San Antonio and McIver, and made a splash. Then the organizers of the exhibition decided to ask the government to create the National Historical Museum of Chile. Thanks to the efforts of Senator Figueroa Joaquin Larrain, in May 1911, the request for the opening of the museum was signed by the President of the Republic, Don Ramón Barros Luco.
Since 1982, the museum has been housed in the Palacio de la Real building in the northern part of the Plaza de Armas, which was built by Juan José de Goyacoalea Zanartu between 1804-1808. Previously, the building was the headquarters of the Royal Court, the First National Congress was held here in 1811, and from 1812 to 1814 the Government was located under the leadership of the patriotic movement la Patria Vieja. During the Spanish Reconquista, the building again became part of the royal court. In 1818, the Palace of the Royal Court was officially named the seat of the government of Bernardo O'Higgins and became known as the Palace of Independence. This building housed ministries and other government agencies and departments. To preserve the building, it was declared a National Monument of Chile in 1969 and transferred to the National Historical Museum of Chile, and also restored in 1978-1982.
Currently, the museum collection is grouped as follows: collection of decorative arts and sculpture, collection of folk arts and crafts, collection of paintings and prints, collection of textiles and costumes, collection of archeology and ethnography, collection of tools and equipment, collection of furniture, collection of medals and coins, collection books and documents, a collection of weapons, a collection of historical photography. These collections have different origins - some were obtained from other museums, exhibitions and private collections, others were donated by different people from the beginning of the 19th century to the present.
