Santiago Funicular: A ride in a heritage elevator

Since the Colony, San Cristóbal Hill was a place of religiosity and pilgrimage, maintaining this role until today. However, it was not always as we know it today. At the end of 1700 it was used as a quarry to extract stones that were used in the construction of the Cal y Canto Bridge, the Palacio de la Moneda and for the paving of Santiago. Later, at the beginning of the 1870th century, they chose it to install the Lick observatory, a pioneer in research into the skies of the southern hemisphere. Although in 1917, Mayor Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna had pointed out the possibility of converting San Cristóbal Hill into a great lung for the city of Santiago, it was only in 28 that this task began to take shape. Alberto Mackenna Subercaseaux, nephew of the mayor and president of the scouts, together with Senator Pedro Bannen led a campaign aimed at achieving the acquisition by the state of the land corresponding to the San Cristóbal hill and Santiago forest. However, this campaign would not have achieved its objective if it had not had the constant support of the Scouts, who with their symbolic takings of the hill managed to generate social awareness of transforming it into a park for the city. Thus, on September 1917, 3295, Law No. XNUMX was promulgated through which private lands on the hill were expropriated, with the exception of those located at the summit belonging to the archbishopric, allocating them to the formation of a large park. public.

On November 24, 1923, the ceremony for laying the first stone of the funicular was held at the initial station, located on the side of Plaza Caupolicán. This station in the shape of a medieval tower, built with edged stone from the same hill, is the work of the renowned architect Luciano Kulczewsky, author of several buildings in Santiago and inside the park, such as the Casino Cumbre from 1923 and the spider house from 1924. The initial station was complemented by the Cumbre Station, the work of architect Carlos Landa, which includes an engine room, public reception and a room known as the Tudor room.

The construction of the funicular was an initial part of the great transformation project of the San Cristóbal hill, its main role was to be able to transport people from the base to the top of the hill quickly, but also offer them a privileged view of the city along the way. The initiative began to take shape in 1923 when engineer Ernesto Bozo Pezza was awarded the project to design, build and operate for twenty years the elevator that was to connect Plaza Caupolicán with the top of San Cristóbal Hill. To finance the project, the Sociedad Anónima Funicular San Cristóbal was established. In the deed of the company, a share capital of $1.200.000 was stipulated, divided into 60 thousand shares of $20 each, which were sold to 465 people, mostly italians

On Saturday, April 25, 1925, hundreds of people attended the official inauguration of the San Cristóbal funicular, which was celebrated with a dinner in the Tudor room attended by Don Arturo Alessandri Palma along with 50 people. The initial station was decorated with the flags of Chile and Italy, highlighting the cooperation of both nations in carrying out the project.

The cars and materials for the funicular were brought from the Ceretti and Tanfani house in Milan, they had a capacity for 50 people differentiated into first and second class. The first class went in the center cars, which were private with curtains and seats, while the second class cars were open-air and people had to travel standing. In 1968, the wooden roof with which the funicular cars were inaugurated was replaced by one made of steel and fabric, similar to how we see it today.

John Paul II arrived at the Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in Santiago on April 1, on a six-day visit. His first activity was praying Vespers with priests, deacons and religious in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago. After this celebration, he went to the Chapter House of the Metropolitan Ecclesiastical Chapter where he had a meeting with pastors from the different Christian churches and the great rabbi of Chile. Finally, he privately visited the premises of the Vicariate of Solidarity, where he had a meeting with officials and victims of the political repression of the dictatorship. From the Cathedral, he went to visit the Sanctuary of the Immaculate Conception on San Cristóbal Hill, where he climbed through our Santiago Funicular and blessed Santiago with a powerful message for the entire country loaded with much love and peace.

On November 16, 2000, it was declared a Historical Monument due to the value of its complex cable transportation system and its importance as a heritage element of Santiago, present in the collective memory of its inhabitants.

This is the beginning of Turistik in the administration and operation of the main attractions of Cerro San Cristóbal in the Metropolitan Park.

These are the protagonists of the Santiago Funicular. Every day they welcome you with their best smile, providing you with the best customer service so that you can live an unforgettable trip, full of a lot of history, to the Summit of Cerro San Cristóbal, within the fourth largest urban park in the world, Parquemet.