The highest building in Latin America at 300 m (984 ft), 64 floors, and the second tallest in the Southern Hemisphere after Australia's Q1 on the Gold Coast at 322 metres (1,056 ft) tall.
Completed in 2013, it is part of Costanera Center complex which includes the largest shopping mall in Latin America.
Gran Torre Santiago seen from Mapocho River
Río Mapocho (Mapuche: Mapu chuco, "water that penetrates the land") flows from the Andes mountains onto the west and divides Chile's capital Santiago in two.
Mapuche (a people of the land, 'mapu' means land and 'che' means people) are the most numerous group of Indians in South America (1.5 million, approx. 8.5% of the Chilean population of 18 million) and are famous for their 350-year struggle against Spanish and, later, Chilean domination. However after the Chilean government transferred ownership of their reservation to individuals in the early 1980s they could lose their land to creditors. Mapuche or Mapudungun language will probably fade away as the new generations are reluctant to learn it.
The majority of the Chilean population is mestizo, which is a mix of Hispanic and Indian. By contrast the vast majority of the Argentina's 45 million people are of European descent with over 60% of Italian descent (Italy was the origin of many original Mendocinos).
The Mapocho River crossing Providencia district with Costanera Center complex seen in the background
Monk Parakeet
Considered "urban invaders" in Santiago de Chile. Their history in the city dates back to 1972 when bird pets were released. (From Wikipedia): Monk parakeets are highly intelligent, social birds. Those kept as pets routinely develop vocabularies of scores of words and phrases. Due to this early speaking ability, it is overtaking the cockatiel as the favorite bird to teach to talk. The monk parakeet is the only parrot that builds a stick nest, in a tree or on a man-made structure, rather than using a hole in a tree. This gregarious species often breeds colonially, building a single large nest with separate entrances for each pair. In the wild, the colonies can become quite large, with pairs occupying separate "apartments" in nests that can reach the size of a small automobile. These nests can attract many other tenants including birds of prey such as the spot-winged falconet (Spiziapteryx circumcincta), ducks such as the yellow-billed teal (Anas flavirostris), and even mammals.
Their five to 12 white eggs hatch in about 24 days.
Unusually for a parrot, monk parakeet pairs occasionally have helper individuals, often grown offspring, which assist with feeding the young.
Monk Parakeet
Bougainvillea tree
Religion in Chile
Around 58% are Catholics. (From Wikipedia): Catholicism was introduced by priests with the Spanish colonialists in the 16th century. Most of the native population in the northern and central regions was evangelized by 1650. The southern area proved more difficult. In the 20th century, church expansion was impeded by a shortage of clergy and government attempts to control church administration. Relations between church and state were strained under both Salvador Allende and Augusto Pinochet. According to a survey conducted in October 2017 by Plaza Publica Cadem, 56% of Chileans disapprove the performance of the Catholic Church in Chile, whilst 32% approve.
San Cristóbal Hill
It rises 850 m above sea level and about 300 m above the rest of Santiago (Cerro Renca is the highest hill in Santiago at 905 m). Cerro San Cristóbal houses Santiago's largest park: Parque Metropolitano.
Only a century ago there were half a million people (equivalent to 13.6% of the population of Chile). A great migration to Santiago started in 1929 with the Great Depression. Today there are 7 million in the Santiago Metropolitan Region (equivalent to almost 40% of the Chilean population of 18 million).
In the background you can see three hills: in the center is the highest hill in Santiago, Cerro Renca (905 m) and next to it, on the left of the picture, Cerro Colorado (720 m) and on the right, Puntilla Lo Ruiz (720 m)
The well preserved remains of an Incan child were found on Cerro El Plomo in 1954. The Plomo Mummy was the first notable frozen mummy discovery of high-altitude child sacrifice by the Incas, a practice called Qhapaq hucha (Quechua qhapaq noble, solemn, principal, mighty, royal, hucha crime, sin, guilt) or Hispanicized Capacocha.
At 5300 m. on Aconcagua the mummy of a 7-year-old boy sacrificed around 1450 was discovered by hikers in 1985. The mummy is very well preserved given the extreme cold and dry conditions. Genetic, archaeological and anthropological evidence point to the boy's Peruvian origin: "The Aconcagua boy could have been carried > 2,600 km South from its origins in the Peruvian Andes for sacrifice in the sacred Aconcagua mountain" (see paper).
The snowy mountain in the background is Cerro el Plomo, the highest peak (5,424 m) visible from Santiago on clear days
