Temuco - Important Places

Important Places

• Alemania Avenue

Is the principal artery in Temuco. Here we can find The Araucaria Museum building (19th century Chilean style); the Menchaca Lira Campus of Art Building (a Victorian Style building, recently restored); The English Alley, where we can find the Red Cross Building and not long ago a blue house which was dismantled to be rebuilt elsewhere (as a Heritage recovery project by the school of architecture of a known University of Temuco), both Neoclassical styled.

Recently, Alemania Av. has become an important commercial centre. Several restaurants,night clubs, pubs,bistros, pharmacies, boutiques, banks, supermarkets and two shopping malls have been opened there. There is also a Casino and a five stars hotel in the same avenue.

Nevertheless, the core of Downtown Temuco is the Main Square Anibal Pinto. Temuco's Main Square is the only one in Chile that was not built with a water fountain in its centre; an art gallery was built in 1981 as part of a total renewal. Compared to other main squares of southern Chile, Temuco's looks very modern. It was named one of Chile's most beautiful plazas.

It is a tradition, in all creole cities in Chile, that some specific buildings must be in front of the main square; in Temuco, this tradition has been broken. Main Squares are supposed to be surrounded by : a Cathedral (which is in front of Temuco's main square, as traditionally), the Municipality (which also, is located in front of the square), a Theatre (there used to be a film theatre in front of it), a Fire Station (there is not a fire station in front of the square, as it should),a School (there is no school in front of the main square), and a Bank (there are four banks around the main square)