Parque Cultural de Valparaíso, Cultural complex on Cerro Cárcel in Valparaíso, Chile.

Parque Cultural de Valparaíso occupies the walled site of the former public prison on Cerro Cárcel, rebuilt between 2010 and 2011 to a design by HLPS Arquitectos (Jonathan Holmes, Martin Labbé, Carolina Portugueis, Osvaldo Spichiger). The long three-storey cell block keeps its barred windows and now holds a steel frame, skylights and seven ground-floor studios; a single new concrete building at the corner serves as entrance and contains the theatre hall, library and restaurant. A 1,600 m² roof terrace looks over the park to the bay.

A colonial powder magazine was built on the summit of Loma de Elías between 1807 and 1809 to supply four forts guarding the port. From 1846 the site served as a prison, and after the 1906 earthquake the cell gallery of the new public jail was built, operating until 1999. Prisoners were held there during the 1891 civil war and again under Pinochet's dictatorship.

After the prison closed in 1999, artists and community groups occupied the buildings, and the state ran a citizen participation programme called "Cárcel, un cerro para la cultura" from 2000 to 2003. The company Teatro del Silencio performed here. Today the park houses local artists and cultural and community organisations, and the former prison gallery building holds a museum of local history.

The complex sits at the top of Cerro Cárcel, reached by steep streets and stairs, so allow time for the climb. The single new multifunctional building at the corner of the grounds serves as the entrance. Its flat roof holds a 1,600 m² terrace looking over the park to the port and the surrounding city.

The colonial powder magazine on the grounds, built between 1807 and 1809 by engineer José Miguel María de Atero y González, is the oldest surviving structure in Valparaíso and the only remaining trace of the hill fortifications. Measuring 24.9 m long and 6.5 m high, it held 80 tonnes of gunpowder and survived the earthquakes that struck the prison built around it.