Furnished salons
European furniture.
P. Hughes — CC BY 4.0 · Manxuc — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kinuxo — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hector Garcia — CC BY-SA 2.0
A grand mansion built between 1903 and 1905 for the Braun-Menéndez family, among Patagonia's richest in the era of wool and shipping, in French style with a stone façade, slate roofs and large windows, now the Regional Museum of Magallanes. On the ground floor the family's salons are preserved as they were: lavish European furniture, chandeliers, carpets, paintings, a billiard room and a decorated dining room, revealing the wealth of the wool barons when Punta Arenas was a thriving port between the oceans. Other rooms tell the region's history: the lives of the native peoples of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, explorers' voyages through the Strait of Magellan, the city's founding and the era of sheep farming and European immigration. Entry is usually free, as at most Chilean state museums, and hours change, so check before going. It is a few steps from the main square.
European furniture.
Native peoples.
The rich era.
Near Plaza Muñoz Gamero, central Punta Arenas
The family's lavish salons as they were, plus rooms on the history of Patagonia, its native peoples and the wool era.
