Palacio Aldunate, Neoclassical building at Alameda and Ejército Street, Santiago, Chile.
Palacio Aldunate is a neoclassical building located where Alameda and Ejército Street meet in Santiago. Its most distinctive architectural features include a semicircular dome, fluted pilasters with Corinthian capitals, and triangular pediments that shape its overall composition.
Luis Aldunate Carrera, a Liberal lawyer and politician, bought the land on Ejército Libertador in 1893 for his family residence. The architect José Benito Mannheim designed the brick building, which passed to Aldunate's widow and then to his son before being sold in 1919. An electrical fire on 10 November 2013 left only the facade standing; reconstruction began in 2023 under architect Andrés Orezzoli Bozzalla.
The building's name comes from Luis Aldunate Carrera, a lawyer and Liberal Party politician who bought plots one and two on Ejército Libertador in 1893 for his family home. On the ground floor he placed three rental houses, keeping the second floor for his wife Felicitas Echeverría and their five children.
The building is visible from the street and easily accessible from the Alameda, one of Santiago's major thoroughfares. Best viewing happens during daylight hours when architectural details are clearly visible from the sidewalk.
During restoration work, architects inserted a hidden metal structure inside the building to stabilize it structurally while keeping the original facade completely unchanged. This behind-the-scenes intervention allows the neoclassical exterior to stand as it appeared in the early 1900s.
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