People, police, tourist kiosk, front Correo Central, Metropolitan Cathedral, glass skyscrapers, Plaza de Armas, Santiago, Chile

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The present Catedral Metropolitana, built between 1748 and 1800, is the fifth on site. The Plaza de Armas, the first public place laid out by city founder Pedro de Valdivia in 1541, became Santiago's seat of power, with a cathedral, law courts and governor's palace. Earlier cathedrals were destroyed by earthquakes and Mapuche Indian uprisings. The Correo Central (Central Post Office), with its elaborate facade on the north-west side of the Plaza de Armas, was built in 1882 on the foundations of the Colonial Governor's Palace and Presidential Palace after Chilean Independence in 1818.

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Size: 4287px × 2848px
Location: Catedral Metropolitana and Correo Central, Plaza de Armas, Centro, Santiago, Chile, South America
Photo credit: © robert harrison / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: architecture, armas, baroque, blue, buildings, carabineros, catedral, cathedral, central, chile, chilean, correo, de, glass, historic, history, icons, latino, latinos, metropolitan, metropolitana, neo-classical, office, people, plaza, police, post, religious, santiago, sky, skyscrapers, statues, tourism, tourists, urban, view