Edificio de la Ilustre Municipalidad de La Serena, Municipal building in La Serena, Chile.

The Edificio de la Ilustre Municipalidad de La Serena is a Neocolonial building designed by architect Enrique Benavente of the Dirección de Arquitectura and completed in 1938. It occupies the site of an old mansion destroyed by a 1936 fire. The building houses the municipality and the Corte de Apelaciones de La Serena, the latter with access on Los Carrera street. On its Prat street facade is set the old city coat of arms, once at the entrance of the walled city.

A devastating fire in 1936 destroyed the previous town hall, leading architect Enrique Benavente to design this replacement structure completed in 1938. The building emerged as a reconstruction of the city's administrative center at this central location.

The facade displays the original city shield that once marked the town's entrance when walls protected it from pirates. This symbol reflects a time when the city needed to defend itself.

The building is easily accessed from Prat and Los Carrera Streets, with separate entrances serving different departments. Keep in mind this is an active government building, so regular business hours apply to visits.

The city shield set into the Prat Street facade is the one that stood at the gate of La Serena when the town was walled and fortified in 1730 against English and French corsairs and pirates. It is the oldest element on the building, older than the 1938 structure itself.