Pérgola de las Flores, Flower market building near Mapocho River, Santiago, Chile

Pérgola de las Flores is a building with two connected sections housing roughly 50 shops that sell fresh flowers and floral arrangements every day. The structure sits beside the Mapocho River near Vega Central, Santiago's main market district.

The flower market began in the early 1900s in front of San Francisco Church before moving to its present location by the Mapocho River in 1948. The relocation made space for the city's expanding commercial activity in the center.

The market's best-known cultural mark is the play La pérgola de las flores, written by Isidora Aguirre with music by Francisco Flores del Campo. The Teatro de Ensayo de la Universidad Católica de Chile staged it for the first time in 1960, and it is considered the first Chilean play to succeed abroad.

Vendors start work early in the morning and close in the afternoon, so a visit before midday gives you the best selection and activity. The location is walkable and sits in a busy commercial area surrounded by other shops and services.

Vendors keep a tradition of throwing flower petals of different colours onto the coffins of public figures, a gesture that began at the old Alameda site and continues at Avenida La Paz 51.