Cruz del Tercer Milenio, Religious monument in Coquimbo, Chile.

The Cruz del Tercer Milenio is a concrete monument on El Vigía hill that rises 83 meters high and spans 40 meters wide. Standing at 157 meters above sea level, it dominates the Coquimbo skyline.

The project was decided in July 1998 by the municipal council led by Mayor Pedro Velásquez, and the winning design came from a national architecture competition by Carlos Aguirre Mandiola, Carlos Aguirre Baeza, Juan Pablo Parentini Gayani and Álvaro Páez Rivera. Earthworks began in April 1999, the first stone was laid that July, and the main structure was inaugurated on 5 May 2000 with President Ricardo Lagos present. The monument commemorates the Catholic jubilee of the year 2000.

The monument houses a chapel and exhibition rooms displaying busts of Chilean Archbishops and Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. These spaces allow visitors to reflect on religious and ecclesiastical traditions.

To reach the worship area, visitors can climb a staircase with about 2000 steps or take an elevator. The observation platforms in the arms of the cross offer wide views over Coquimbo and the surrounding landscape.

The cross rests on a triangular base set into the rock, a shape chosen to represent the Holy Trinity. Its three independent bodies rise from this equilateral triangle, and the monument was funded by popular donations and local and national companies.