Cerro Santa Lucia is one of Santiago’s famous historical sites. The first picture shows an outside view of the cerro which is sorta hidden but inside it’s filled with fountains, a castle, stairs, statues, and has and AMAZING view of the city. The first thing we are greeted by is the Terraza Neptuno, a huge and beautiful fountain. (second picture). There’s also a castle inside (third picture) named Castillo Hidalgo that looks something out of the movies. There was also lots of different paths and ancient stone stairwells that were janky… I was scared climbing up/down. It was worth climbing all the way to the top of the castle because the view is BREATHTAKING! I was able to see ALL of Santiago..and yes its fucking HUGE!! (fourth picture) Along the way I took some pretty funny pictures of statues and the crazy girls I went with. Overall, the experience was great I love visiting historical monuments and learning about them. Here are some historical facts: 

• El Cerro was orignally called Huelen by the pre-colonization inhabitants aka the Mapuches
• The Spanish Conquistador, Pedro de Valdivia, changed the name when he conquered the hill in 1541. (That day celebrates ‘Santa Lucia) It was on this hill that Valdivia founded the city of Santiago
• It was used as a ‘look out’ by the conquistadores