Plaza de Armas

A statue of Pedro de Valdivia himself thats located in the plaza.  It's apparently slightly controversial because they forgot to give the horse reins?

The fountain in the middle that apparently marks the exact epicenter which I mentioned before.

Just a little view of the gardens.  My host mom said that the whole plaza used to be grass and gardens, but in recent years they paved it all over (and none of the citizens understand why either?)  ¡Que feo!

A sculpture in the plaza that pays homage to the indigenous roots of the country.

Looking towards the other direction is much more boring, but if you can see those little tents in the background, those are all artists making and selling their pieces, and some really amazing ones I might add!

Probably the most famous part of the Plaza de Armas, la Catedral Metropolitana.  Perhaps I will eventually post pictures of what it looks like inside...

El Correo Central, or the National Post Office of Chile, which also houses a museum of sorts involving mail?  I'm not sure since I haven't yet been inside...

The building in the center is el Palacio de la Real Audiencia, o ahora, el Museo Histórico Nacional.

La Municipalidad de Santiago

I know, this picture is stating the obvious, but tres diamantes is the symbol for the metro (or what New Yorkers call the subway, Gilman, Mr. MTA man...)  As suggests the name, la Plaza de Armas was used during the Spanish conquista as the place to store arms.  Therefore, it dates back to the 1540's when Pedro de Valdivia founded the city.

Fun Fact:  The Plaza de Armas is actually considered to be the "epicenter of Chile", and therefore it is the spot from which all distances in Chile are calculated.