Funicular: A heritage elevator ride

Since the Colony, the 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 remove 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 20th century, they chose it to install the Lick Observatory, a pioneer in the investigation of the skies of the southern hemisphere. Although in 1870, the mayor Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna had pointed out the possibility of turning San Cristóbal hill into a great lung for the city of Santiago, it was only after 1917 that this task began to materialize. 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 San Cristóbal hill and Santiago forest. However, this campaign would not have achieved its goal if it had not had the constant support of the Scouts, who with their symbolic takeovers of the hill managed to generate social awareness of transforming it into a park for the city. Thus, on September 28, 1917, Law No. 3295 was promulgated through which private land on the hill was expropriated, with the exception of those located on the summit belonging to the archbishopric, allocating them to the formation of a large park. public.

On November 24, 1923, the ceremony of laying the first stone of the funicular was held at the initial station, located next to 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 house of spiders from 1924. The initial station was complemented by the Estación Cumbre, the work of the architect Carlos Landa, which includes a machine 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 to offer them a privileged view of the city on the way. The initiative began to materialize in 1923 when the engineer Ernesto Bozo Pezza was awarded the project to design, build and operate for twenty years the elevator that was to link Caupolicán square with the top of San Cristóbal hill. In order to finance the project, the Sociedad Anónima Funicular San Cristóbal was established. The company deed stipulated a share capital of $1,200,000 divided into 60 thousand shares of $20 each that 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 Mr. Arturo Alessandri Palma along with 50 people. The initial station was adorned with the Chilean and Italian flags, valuing 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 in first and second class. The first class went in the cars in the center, which were private with curtains and seats, while the second class were outdoors 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 the prayer of vespers with priests, deacons and religious in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago. After this celebration, he went to the Chapter Room of the Metropolitan Ecclesiastical Council where he had a meeting with pastors of the different Christian churches and the chief rabbi of Chile. Finally, he privately visited the Vicaría de la Solidaridad compound, where he had a meeting with officials and victims of the dictatorship's political repression. From the Cathedral, he went to visit the Sanctuary of the Immaculate Conception on Cerro San Cristóbal, where he went up through our Santiago Funicular and blessed Santiago with a powerful message for the whole country full of love and peace.

On November 16, 2000, it was declared a Historic Monument for the value of its complex cable transport 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 Parque Metropolitano.

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 journey, full of history, towards the Summit of Cerro San Cristóbal, inside the fourth largest urban park in the world, Parquemet.