Visit to La Chascona (one of Pablo Neruda's houses)

Wednesday March 12 was another beautiful day.  High about 28C.  We love the dry heat- very little humidity and cooler (though not too cool) evenings.  Today we set out to visit "La Chascona", one of three houses that belonged to the great Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda.  It is in Barrio Bellavista, the neighbourhood just to the east of our apartment.  Each Barrio (neighbourhood) has it's own signage.  The sign for Barrio Bellavista reads "the bohemian and cultural neighbourhood of Chile".  Lots of street art, restaurants, bars, and cultural spaces.

Sign for Barrio Bellavista- "The bohemian and cultural neighbourhood of Chile"

Beautiful flowers

More street art

Flowers and art

Another Bellavsita house

We reached "La Chascona", the house built in 1953 by Pablo Neruda for Matilde Urrutia, his secret lover at the time.  Pablo Neruda was born in 1904 and became one of Chile's greatest poets.  He was also a diplomat, politician and member of the Communist Party.  Neruda (not his real name-- he took his pen name from Czech poet Jan Neruda) met Matilde in 1946 while married to his second wife  Delia del Carril, and they had a brief affair.  They met again in 1949 in Mexico and had a secret affair until 1955, when Neruda separated from Delia and moved into "La Chascona".   Neruda named the house in Matilde's honour-- it was the nickname he gave her due to her abundant red hair. 

The Catalan architect German Rodriques Arias built the building, but Neruda made many changes to the design himself, orienting the buildings toward the San Cristobal hill.  Initially only a living room and a bedroom were built as Matilde was living there on her own.  She created the beautiful gardens.  After Neruda moved in, there were additions of a kitchen, dining room, bar and library.  It is a very eclectic mix of buildings on different levels.  All the rooms are filled with objects and art that Neruda collected on his travels around the world.  

A view of "La Chascona"

Plaque indicating house built in 1953 for Matilde Urrutia

Art around door (note fish on left)

View in courtyard

Neruda poster on wall

We were only allowed to take pictures outside of the buildings, but I found a few additional pictures on the internet.  The rooms were often small, but very functional.  Neruda loved secret passages and surprises.  He had a narrow, long table constructed in the small dining room to make conversation easier.  There was a secret passage at one end, where he could make a surprise entrance.

Dining room with long narrow table and low ceilings (from internet)

One of my favourite rooms was the Captain's bar, a small room located just before one entered the dining room.  I snuck a picture from outside looking in.  The room was full of pictures and the bar was wonderful, with holes created for bottles.  Very 50's as were many of the furnishings.  One enters the bar from the courtyard and then goes through another door into the small dining room.  Neruda loved the sea and there are many images of fish throughout the house.  There is a real feel in some of the rooms of being on a boat.

                                                           Captain's bar

                View of living room (another level of the house)

                 Inside of living room with picture of Matilde (from internet)

There was a beautiful picture of Matilde done by the Mexican artist Diego Rivera, a friend of both Neruda and Matilde.  If one looks closely at her hair, there is a diffused profile of Neruda.

        Portrait of Matilde by Diego Rivera

To the immediate left of the portrait of Matilde, there was a wonderful small piece done by Fernand Leger for the couple.

Fernand Leger work: note sickle on right side of forehead . Hair on left side is in shape of Chile (from Internet)

As we continued walking up the winding outside stairs, we stopped in this lovely garden.

Alano in Neruda and Matilde's garden

Me too!

We also saw another patio with a sculpture. There were so many fabulous spaces to work, play and enjoy the view of San Cristobal, which is just behind the house.

Another balcony

The top level contained a summer bar room (again very small but beautifully furnished) and Neruda's library, where he wrote.  There were a number of pieces of art and furniture throughout the house by Fornasetti (1913-88), the Italian painter, interior decorator and sculptor.  These hanging eyes are some of his work.

Top level library room

View from the top level down the stairs

Stairs and pillars near house

Mural of Pablo Neruda on wall of road leading up to his house

Neruda also held a number of diplomatic positions and served a term as a senator for the Chilean Communist Party in the 1940s.  He went into exile in 1948 for three years due to a change in government and then returned to Chile in 1952.  It was in 1949 in Mexico that he met Matilde Urrutia again.

In 1970, Neruda was nominated as a candidate for the Chilean presidency, but ended up giving his support to Salvador Allende.  Neruda was appointed by Allende as the Chilean ambassador to France and was there from 1970-72.  Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.  He returned to Chile in 1972, due to failing health.  Neruda was ultimately diagnosed with prostrate cancer.  He was devastated by the September 11, 1973 coup and was present when one of his houses was searched by the junta forces.  He famously said " Look around- there's only one thing of danger for you here---poetry."  

Neruda was hospitalized shortly after the coup and died of heart failure on September 23, 1973.  Pinochet would not allow a public funeral, but it did become public and was the first protest against the new regime.  "La Chascona" had been broken into by the military, a number of items broken and water purposely allowed to flood the house.  Matilde held a private wake in the house and the attendees could see the damage that the military had done.  Matilde returned to live in the house and stayed there until her death in 1985.  In 2013, Neruda's body was exhumed to look for traces of poison (it had been alleged that he had been poisoned by the Pinochet regime while in the hospital). The results released in November 2013 found no chemical substances.

We really enjoyed our visit to "La Chascona"--a unique opportunity to see the environment where the great poet lived and created.  It was a fabulous space- though one could see that constantly climbing the outside stairs could get difficult at times.

After leaving "La Chascona", we made our way over to the Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral, where we had been the other day.  We wanted to pick up some tickets to see a dance performance and check out the complex.   

                                                 Poster for the Ride of Spring dance performance

The centre has a small art gallery, which was exhibiting fibre objects from various countries in South and Central America.  

                                                               Mermaids and other objects

Beautiful colours and details

The Centro Cultural Gabriele Mistral has an interesting history.  The complex was originally built to serve as the headquarters for the Third United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD III), which was held in Santiago in 1972.  President Allende recruited many volunteers to help with the project and it was constructed in less than a year.  It consisted of a convention centre and an adjoining 22 story building.  It was to represent the "New Man" and the centre was named after Gabriela Mistral.  After the conference, the building was used as a cultural centre until the 1973 coup.  During the Pinochet regime it was the government headquarters - representing "total power".  In 1990, when democracy returned, the centre hosted a number of conventions and the adjacent tower became the main building for the Ministry of National Defence. The complex was badly damaged by fire in 2006 and later remodelled (after an architectural competition) to again serve as a cultural centre, which opened in 2010. The Ministry of National Defence was moved.  

                                             The outside of the cultural centre (from internet)

A fibre artist known as Manzanito (Alfredo Manzano) had created a number of fibre fish which had hung in the original cafeteria.  A replica hangs in the new centre.

At a wine store in the complex showcasing Chilean wines, we bought wine for dinner.  We got a bottle of "Carmenere" the newest popular grape in Chile.  The grape has been around for many years- but only identified as a separate varietal recently.  The wine was excellent (it will last a few nights for us).

We then went for a very late lunch in Barrio Lastarria at "Sur Patagonico".   Alano had empanadas (crab filled) and I had a delicious ceviche.

                                                      Ceviche with salmon and another white fish

                                                               Alano with his empanadas            

                                                               Enjoying lunch outside

We made our way back to the apartment and sat out at the pool for a while before heading in for a delicious fish dinner.  We are enjoying our slow wandering around the city-- spending time outside in the beautiful weather and exploring the culture.