Víctor Jara Stadium

The Víctor Jara Stadium is an indoor sports hall in the Santiago commune of the Chilean capital, serving both as a sports venue and a historical monument. The hall can hold several thousand spectators and features a covered playing area with concrete and plastic surfaces used for basketball, volleyball and other indoor sports.

After the military coup of September 11, 1973, the sports hall was turned into a detention camp where thousands of people were held and tortured. The singer Victor Jara was among the prisoners who died here in the days following the coup, and in 2003 the facility was given his name as an official memorial site.

Named after the Chilean singer Victor Jara, who was detained and killed here in September 1973, the building now carries the name of an artist whose songs are sung throughout Latin America. Visitors see memorial plaques and murals that honor the victims of the dictatorship and show how this place shifted from sports center to memorial site.

The building sits near the city center and can be reached easily using public transport. Visitors can enter the sports hall during scheduled events or by arrangement, allowing time to read the memorial plaques inside.

The facility houses a small museum with photographs and personal belongings of prisoners from the dictatorship era. Some of the concrete walls still carry traces of the original use as an internment camp, shown during guided tours.

Location: Santiago

Location: Santiago commune

Inception: 1969

Architects: Mario Recordón

Official opening: 1949

Capacity: 6500

GPS coordinates: -33.45077,-70.67461

Latest update: December 5, 2025 22:29