Tuesday, 29 November 2011 14:37
Meeting at Plaza Baquedano (aka Plaza Italia).
Its real name is Plaza Baquedano, but we all know it as Plaza Italia. Four streets and three municipalities (Santiago, Recoleta, and Providencia) cross here and it works very well as meeting point with friends, social manifestations or as socioeconomic division line: From Plaza Italia up- or downtown.
Originally it was named Plaza La Serena (1872), the mistaken name Plaza Italia comes from a present – a lion statue with an angel – that gave the Italian government to Chile in 1910 for the celebration of the first 100 years of independence. This little square with the lion and archangel actually is Plaza Italia, but for some unknown reason the name has extended to Plaza Baquedano.
The most popular reunions on Plaza Italia take place alter a triumph in sports, usually related to soccer. Thousands of people have celebrated with shawls, jumps and songs the victories of the national soccer team or the election of a politician, for example when the ex-president Michelle Bachelet was elected.
A safe place from where one can take public transportation at any time into any direction, the division line of Santiago, a meeting point to celebrate or demonstrate – many times ending with police using water guns against the people – all this is this big green oval in the middle of the city.
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