Since May it's been getting cooler in Santiago. I refuse to call it "winter" though, since you'll rarely find people wearing thick jackets at 15°C, let alone hats and gloves. However, the winter months presented us with a good opportunity to check out some of Santiago's finest museums.
No.1 spot is "Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino" in downtown Santiago. It covers everything from Mexican Aztec's up to the lesser known Mapuche civilization in southern Chile. I have probably seen enough broken Inca ceramics for the rest of my life, but with a collection this wide it was well worth the visit! Amongst my favourite pieces were the Chemamull, a set of beautiful wooden statues, originating from an ancient Mapuche burrial cult. And for those who fancy disturbing oddities: What about Xipe-Totec, the flayed-skin god? The life-sized statue of a man wearing the entire flayed skin of a human being, after ripping out it's heart in a gladiator sacrifice festival - for the Aztec's a symbol of rebirth and renewal of the season..., for me it's stuff of horror movies.
No.1 spot is "Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino" in downtown Santiago. It covers everything from Mexican Aztec's up to the lesser known Mapuche civilization in southern Chile. I have probably seen enough broken Inca ceramics for the rest of my life, but with a collection this wide it was well worth the visit! Amongst my favourite pieces were the Chemamull, a set of beautiful wooden statues, originating from an ancient Mapuche burrial cult. And for those who fancy disturbing oddities: What about Xipe-Totec, the flayed-skin god? The life-sized statue of a man wearing the entire flayed skin of a human being, after ripping out it's heart in a gladiator sacrifice festival - for the Aztec's a symbol of rebirth and renewal of the season..., for me it's stuff of horror movies.
