Chile - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 460

1905 (it's been the posh Club de la
Unión since 1960), provides a
fascinating glimpse into the homes of
the city's elites during the boom years.
The reception room, music room (with
portraits of Braun and her millionaire
Portuguese husband, José Nogueira),
the upstairs balcony and billiard room,
as well as the public areas of the Hotel
Nogueira (which now occupies half the
mansion), are a feast of richly carved
ceilings, frescoes, dark wood and artwork
- all imported from Europe.

(Tues-Sat 9.30am-12.30pm & 2-5pm;
CH$1200), with a focus on Punta
Arenas's naval history and exploration of
the southern oceans. The ground floor
features a multitude of scale models of
famous ships, including Sir Ernest
Shackleton's Endurance , as well as a
block of Antarctic ice, while the first
floor is decked out as a ship, complete
with nautical equipment, radio room,
maps and charts.

Museo Salesiano Maggiorino
Borgatello
Located seven blocks north of the plaza,
at Avenida Bulnes 336, Museo Salesiano
Maggiorino Borgatello (Tues-Sun
10am-12.30pm & 3-5.30pm;
CH$2000; W museomaggiorinoborgatello
.cl) provides an enlightening introduction
to local flora, fauna, geology and history.
One room is entirely devoted to a life-size
replica of the Cave of Hands in Argentina,
decorated with prehistoric rock paintings
(see p.133), and there are galleries
dedicated to the Kawéskar (Alacaluf ),
Selk'nam (Ona), Yámana (Yagán) and
Tehuelche cultures.

Mirador Cerro La Cruz and
Castillo Milward
A five-block walk along Calle Fagnano
from the southeast corner of the plaza
brings you up to the mirador , offering
a stupendous view of the brightly
coloured, galvanized metal rooftops
of Punta Arenas and the deep blue
Magellan Strait beyond. Nearby, at
España 959, stands a red-brick tower
with Gothic windows - Castillo Milward ,
the house built in 1924 for eccentric
sailor Charley Milward (it's now the
offices of the local newspaper, Diario
El Pingüino), relative of the writer
Bruce Chatwin and described in his travel
memoir In Patagonia .

4

Cementerio Municipal
A stroll through the darkly impressive
Cementerio Municipal (daily: summer
7.30am-8pm; winter 8am-6pm; free),
its straight alleys lined with
immaculately sculpted cypresses,
offers a fascinating glimpse into the
city's immigrant history, cultural
diversity and social hierarchy. The
monumental marble tombs of the city's
ruling families, elaborately engraved
with the English and Spanish names,
mingle with the Croatian and
Scandinavian names of immigrant
labourers, etched on more modest
grave spaces the size of lockers. Look
out for the stern gravesite of German
Admiral Graf von Spee, killed fighting
the British in 1914 at the Battle of
the Falkland Islands, and the grand
Italianate tomb of José Menéndez.
The illustrious Sara Braun has her
own elegant Russian-style chapel (she
emigrated from Latvia with her parents
in 1874, and died here in 1955).

Palacio Braun-Menéndez
Completed in 1906 half a block
northeast of the plaza at Magallanes 949,
the Palacio Museo Braun-Menéndez is the
former family residence of Sara Braun's
younger brother, Mauricio Braun,
and the daughter of José Menéndez,
Josefina (a marriage that united the two
wealthiest and most powerful families in
Punta Arenas). The house reopened in
2013 as the renovated Museo Regional
de Magallanes (Oct-April Wed-Mon
10.30am-5pm; May-Sept Wed-Mon
10.30am-2pm; CH1000;
W

museodemagallanes.cl), with displays
on the maritime and farming history of
the region.

Museo Naval y Marítimo
Two blocks east of the plaza, at
Pedro Montt 981, lies the small but
illuminating Museo Naval y Marítimo