Day 22 Feb 5, Iquique, Chile 7-4:00
Iquique City Highlights Plaza Prat Outside of Municipal Theater. Regional Museum. Baquedano Avenue to the Astoreca Palace. Cavancha Area. Spanish Casino
Iquique is another city in northern Chile. Copper mining is an important industry. Many ethnic group residents are present. The most numerous groups are Croatian, Italian, Greek, Chinese, Arabic nationalities, Peruvians and Bolivians, British peoples and the French.
The guide says it is thought of as a "lazy city". People don't get up until 11:00. Stores open between 9:00 and 11:00. People wear swimsuits when they are out and about. The temperature is consistently comfortable. The beaches are very popular. It is considered a healthy city because the people are active in sports.
The main square of Iquique offers three interesting buildings; the beautiful Municipal Theatre (undergoing remodeling), the Spanish casino (which never was a casino) and the clocktower built in 1877 as a symbol of Iquique. The designer of the clock tower studied in Eiffel's School. The Prat Square is quite green and has some fountains. The Spanish casino was a Spanish men's club, but is now a Spanish restaurant. We went there for a drink and snacks at the end of our tour.
Baquedano Street is a long avenue in the old quarter of Iquique, Chile. It is a popular tourists attraction and preserves its historical and architectural heritage. It is characterized by its late 19th- and early 20th-century houses built of wood. The building material is imported Oregon pine. The construction is a simple framework or "balloon frame."
The architectural style is somewhat "American" (Georgian, Greek Revival, Adam). The buildings typically show a continuous frontage. They offer verticality and lightness. They typically feature vestibules, verandahs, skylights or lanterns, watchtowers, and a serial or "shady" roof over the terrace roof. Barquedano Street is a pedestrian boulevard with water fountains and plants decorating the fifteen blocks.
Regional Museum We visited the Regional Museum and saw some art work, life-size replicas of native houses, tools, Inca mummies, crafts such as pottery and ceramics, etc.
The Astoreca Palace features luxurious period furniture in the dining room.
Cavancha Beach is a beautiful beach located in Iquique and is popular with all ages. It is free. I also saw weight machines in different locations along the promenade. There were climbing bars, a skate park, a bike park, basketball courts, soccer fields, playgrounds, people jogging, an olympic-size pool, tennis club etc. The second beach we came to was 3.3 km long and because the surf was so rough, no one was in the water. People were walking along the beach. This town in in a Tsunami Hazard Zone.
Modern building with expensive housing.
I saw garbage along the way in the port and in the town. The port is very much a shipping hub with many containers. I saw new buildings which are expensive to live in and deteriorating buildings. There is also a university in Iquique. I didn't see too many American companies; Hilton, Pepsi and Coca Cola.
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