Plaza Sotomayor

Plaza Sotomayor Review

Valparaíso's most impressive square, Plaza Sotomayor, serves as a gateway to the bustling port. Comandancia en Jefe de la Armada, headquarters of the Chilean navy, is a grand, gray building that rises to a turreted pinnacle over a mansard roof. At the north end of the plaza stands the Monumento de los Héroes de Iquique, which honors Arturo Prat and other heroes of the War of the Pacific. In the middle of the square (beware of traffic—cars and buses come suddenly from all directions) is the Museo del Sitio. Artifacts from the city's mid-19th-century port, including parts of a dock that once stood on this spot, are displayed in the open under glass.