At Global Alliance, we take the “Worldwide” in our company name very seriously. We pride ourselves in offering premium limousine services to our clientele not only in our home base of Toronto but around the globe. Through our sophisticated network of trusted worldwide affiliates, Global Alliance can provide professional chauffeured services in hundreds of international cities. We will discuss many of the major worldwide destinations served via our affiliate network on this blog. Our destination today is Chile’s capital city, Santiago.
Not only Chile’s capital but also its largest city, Santiago has a total population in its metropolitan region of over seven million inhabitants. Though the area was part of the Incan Empire in pre-Columbian times, Santiago’s modern history begins in 1541 with the settlement’s foundation by Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia. Emerging from hardships to grow steadily during the colonial period, Santiago grew as the country’s most vital inland city as many important civic structures were erected. Through independence in the 19th Century and rapid population growth and urban expansion in the 20th Century, Santiago has grown into a mature and bustling economic, industrial, political, and cultural centre in Chile and South America.
Lying in the centre of the Santiago Basin between the Andes and the Chilean Coastal Range, Santiago is bissected by the Mapocho River, which is lined by many green spaces such as the Parque Forestal. Its central square is Plaza de Armas, originally a mustering and marching ground for Spanish troops. As Chile’s capital, Santiago is home to many national museums, most built in a colonial or neoclassical style and featuring extensive exhibits on the history and culture of Chile. Santiago also features many fine theatres and performing arts centres, historic and contemporary.
The Metropolitan Cathedral, with its magnificent colonial baroque facade, is one of most distinctive structures in the city and is imbued with great historical importance in the country, as is La Moneda, the presidential palace which, like the Cathedral, was constructed in the last two decades of the 18th Century. A more modern landmark is the Gran Torre Santiago, Latin America’s tallest building and the anchor of Santiago’s so-called “Sanhattan” financial district. As in much of South America, football (soccer to North Americans) is very popular in Chile, with many clubs based in the city and the national team based at the city’s Estadio Nacional de Chile.
Santiago’s international airport is called Comodoro Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport. 15 kilometres from the city centre, it is one of the busiest airports in Latin America.
Please feel free to contact Global Alliance Worldwide Chauffeured Services for all of your transportation needs in Santiago, Chile.