The Museum is housed in one of Santiago’s most distinguished colonial buildings. It was built in 1805, in neoclassical style, and was originally home to the colonial government’s Royal Customs House. Permanent Exhibition: Chile before Chile More than 14,000 years ago, humans first stepped foot in the territory that is now Chile. Since then, different people have inhabited this diverse geography. In this exhibition, we invite you to learn about some of those ancient inhabitants and their descendants, the present-day indigenous people of Chile, whose genes, artistic expressions and epic histories are all part of our Chilean identity.
Extensive, highly interesting collection. Covers much more than just Aztecs and Incas. Spent 2 hours here. Worth the entry fee if you like ancient art. Bonus: the cafe serves cheap wine. Staff are very helpful.
Great selection of artifacts throughout different pre-columbian cultures. Information provided in both Spanish and English.
We had the best time at this museum, with fascinating displays of art and culture spanning several millennia! Luckily we also decided to eat lunch at the restaurant which was simply fabulous. A special mention to Isabella who really looked after us very well during our lunch and introduced us to “Merken” and “Pisco Sours.” The restaurant here alone is worth visiting - delicious food.
We missed the lower floor due to logistics and timing, which I understand provides a context both geographic and in time. That being said, I thought the collection was lovely. It included stone, ceramics, metal work and textiles. It also showed how artisans are continuing the traditions in the current day. Most objects were well-displayed. One or two were backlit in ways that made viewing the surface very difficult. The biggest part of the collection by far is durable objects in hard materials, understandably. However the textile collection is still impressive, both in its fine and lace-y material and its heavy woven wool with rich, saturated colors and elaborate patterns.
Very unique museum retracing Chilean and Latin America b fore the Spaniards arrived. A lot of unique old originals prices. I really enjoyed the Mapuche and Rosa Nui artifacts. I am not giving it 5 stars because of the signage’s font was poor and poorly lit. This created an accessibility issue. The English description was not as detailed as the Spanish one.
You've got to go here even if you're only in Santiago one day.
Beautifully set out museum with exquisite pieces from South America before Columbus. A good cafe also!
Amazing collection of ancient, old and contemporary. Bottom level is quite dark and hard to read signage
Outstanding compact museum featuring artifacts from Central & South America as well as Chile. The star of the show is the Chile before Chile exhibit located down the stairs fron the entrance -- with amazing indigenous works particularly the Incan Knot accounting/data tracker. Not overwhelming at all & reasonable entrance fee (12,000 CLP) this museum is highly recommend.
The best museum I saw in Chile by far. If you are interested in Pre-Columbian art and culture, it is an absolute must-see. I'm very glad that this museum exists.
Rich collection of artifacts that are well preserved. Brief English descriptions are useful. Be sure to scan the QR on the second floor as you begin your viewing, worth 1.5-2 hours of visit.
I couldn’t get the app to work to access our tickets and the woman at the desk checked us in and had our reservation printed. What a blessing! It was a smaller museum than I was envisioning, but it was packed with beautiful and intricate pieces of art. We enjoyed the Spanish and English explanations of the items. Everything was placed well and the flow was so nice to walk through. There is also a Cafe ☕️ and a cute gift shop. A man was singing opera in the hallway outside when we left.
Very lucky to attend an after-hours conference reception here— and also had lunch here (an excellent salmon salad) earlier in the week. Unlike many other museums in Chile, there are some labels in English as well as Spanish.
The most important museum in Santiago. Do not miss. The history and artwork are beautiful and fascinating. Do not miss. The variety and depth of the exhibitions are amazing.
This museum is poorly organized and too dark to read explanatory notes. I understand that low light is essential for preserving artefacts, but similar museums in Peru and Guatemala have solved this problem by having notes posted a bit away, with their own soft lights. Meandered 20 minutes through its darkness and walked out.
Very well done museum with many artifacts and pieces of pre-Columbian art and history on display, mostly ceramic but also of various stones. I really enjoyed the room with the textiles, they are well preserved! Museum was larger than I thought, spread over several floors, elevator or stairs available. Probably the biggest draw are the ancient mummies on the bottom floor - really fascinating. Not very expensive and recommended!
World-class museum. Amazing artifacts, of course, mostly ceramics. For the ceramics, what stands out is how many are displayed so that you can see all sides of them. Beautiful textiles too. I wish there were a big coffee-table style of book covering the collection. I happily bought a smaller book with photos of part of the collection. But I would love to have photos with me here at home. The most obvious comparison is to the archaeological museum in Mexico City, which is bigger, of course, and has the famous show-stopper pieces that everyone wants to take photos in front of. This may be heresy, but I prefer this museum in Santiago. I was just as awestruck by the beauty but found it more manageable.
Very nice museum. I ended up buying my ticket there because we went on a different date than the day I purchased on Viator.
I went in with high expectations to see examples of Chilean art and culture. The museum is in a great building (although AC would be nice), but the collection on display is across all of South America and not focused on Chile. Some of the Chilean exhibits were closed, but many cultures, notably all the Patagonian ones) are explicitly not featured. We saw lots of Mexican, Peruvian, Ecuadorean, even Caribbean cultures, but not much Chilean. It was all good, but I had hoped. I feel like they also miss out on sales by not having non-Spanish guidebooks or a particularly inspiring museum shop. The cafe is good and friendly. I’ll tepidly recommend and tell people to go in with limited expectations.
I loved this place and spent a couple of hours here. Incredible artifacts and history information provided, with translations in English as well. Although the entrance price is expensive at slightly less than £10, it’s so worth it. Photos allowed and I took a million. Not crowded.
Very interesting museum with a lot of really cool artifacts. The way they are displayed in the subterranean space beneath the museum is quite effective. There was a lot of excellent information regarding the culture and history of the area. Worth a visit to see the variety and quality of the artwork.
We enjoyed our visit here and there are some impressive and unique pieces but there are only two large rooms - one on each floor and we felt that 12,000 peso for the entry was therefore rather expensive. Also, whilst we understand why the lighting needs to be low, it meant that it was difficult to read some of the descriptions (available in both Spanish and english).
We enjoyed this museum. The tickets line was long. Its a beautiful building. We enjoyed the pottery collection. The history of all of South America and its timeline was interesting as well. We saw so many varieties of artefacts. Feathered jewelry, metal works, textiles. It's two floors. We enjoyed walking around. There is security on each floor. They have a cafe and gift shop
Surprinsingly rich museum with mostly Inca artwork, old jewelry, clothing, and even mummies. Some Malpuche indian art as well. It is worth the visit. We had a cake and pisco sour at the bakery, not bad either
This gem in Santiago is unavoidable. Well shown pieces from the many indigenous culture in the Americas, it is even difficult to choose what to admire. One of the best collections i have ever seen.
Excellent. Very well displayed items and textiles. Good explanations in English. Some of the ceramics appear very modern Cafe was fine. The only disappointment was the gift shop which was more about generic gifts than anything relating to what we had seen
Amazing museum to know and understand The original People of this land. A place to see art, culture and way of Life of indians from all over America. It worths.
Museum in town central of Chile. Entry is 10000 chilean pesos. If you want to take tours - its additional costs. Good place to visit to spend some time
When you ask the average person (including this reviewer before visiting this museum) to list the significant civilizations of pre-Colombian Central and South America you will likely get a short list that includes the Mayans, the Aztecs, and the Incas. The Chilean Museum of Pre-Colombian Art dispels this notion in decisive fashion. Inaugurated in 1981 and extensively renovated in 2014, the institution’s collection contains over 3,000 items categorized into almost 100 different groups spanning 10,000 years. It is a virtual treasure trove of irreplaceable artistic objects. I visited twice here on consecutive days at the end of my week in the country. The building consists of three main sections: a lower floor exhibit covering the history of Chile Before Chile,” a larger second floor experience covering the rest of the Americas (minus upper North America), and a smaller rotating exhibit on the ground floor displaying “daily wear and tear” and its effects on indigenous artifacts. “Chile Before Chile” is divided geographically; artifacts from the Far North, Near North, Central, and Southern zones are grouped and include items as diverse as neonatal mummies and wooden flutes. The second-floor collection is more extensive, covering a larger geographic area, and included an even more varied set of objects: Mayan ceramic vases, Shaman wooden “purging spatulas,” Vicus ceramic house models, etc. The rotating exhibit was in a single room and fairly brief, while a small gift shop rounded out the experience. In summary, this was an equally memorable and exhausting experience. First and most importantly, as stated in the introduction it truly opened my eyes to the variegated groups of people that inhabited this part of the Americas in the past. Most of the items on display were simply beautiful to look at and English translations were thankfully the norm and not the exception. Second, the museum does an above average job of organization, with the groups displayed geographically in eight rooms with timelines shown for temporal context. My only suggestion to the staff would be to have a phone app or audio guide to make the place easier to navigate for those with limited time. In any case, this museum should be included on even the most cursory visit to Santiago.
Very interesting. Nice diversity in south american culture including the similarities and differences in regional craft and culture.
10,000 pesos to enter which for what it contained seemed a little on the expensive side. There are lots of artefacts on display, but concentrating on 'historic art' it focuses on ceramics, stonework and carvings. Covering each region by region from Mexico to Chile became a little repetitive.
I was under the impression that the core of the exhibition is comprised of artifacts found in Chile but it's rather a collection of finds from different regions of South and Central America. Good collection of pottery from Chavin and Wari cultures. Signage is both in Spanish and English. The entry fee is 10,000 CLP
Beautiful museum with a great , peaceful coffee shop. I spent about 2 hours here and especially enjoyed the Chile before Chile gallery.
Give yourself plenty of time. There is a lot to see. Easy to catch brain overload. Two shorter trips might be a good idea.
Amazing collection and artfully displayed. Glad to see English translations for many items, areas. Having visited museums elsewhere in South Americs feared that might be the case. Liked the time-line comparisons.
Great museum who knew there were older mummies here than in Egypt. Great 2000 year old textiles and ceramics as far as you can see. A Must see!!
This is a fantastic and really interesting museum , with textiles, pottery jewellery all manner of things from the indigenous peoples and history that predate the arrival of the Spanish.
This excellent museum focuses on Pre-Columbian Art. The top floor is a survey of pre-Columbian art from all over Latin American. But you have to go to the basement to see the best exhibition. "Chile Before Chile" shows art from all over the country. They also had a temporary exhibit on Shamanism. This is a fascinating museum, where you can easily spend a few hours.
Great way to spend an hour to learn something new. Very interesting artifacts. It’s a leisurely stroll in about 90 minutes.
This is an astounding museum, but only if you could see the amazing exhibits on level two. I was fortunate to visit on a Saturday; and because I liked the level two so much, I decided to return in a few days, to see it again. However, only level one and the special exhibit were open during the week, and even though the ticket price was reduced, the truly exceptional artifacts are on the second floor/level. I checked the museum's web site the same day, there was no mention of certain areas being closed during the week. The mentioned level two is simply stunning with so many items from all over Central and South America, arranged in beautiful way. The signs are both in Spanish and English (something lacking in the temporary exhibits). If you are lucky to visit the museum during the weekend, you will love it.
We were not able to visit the second floor, which the guidebooks rate very highly. We saw an exhibition of shamanism and the lower floor which has precolumbian material from Chile itself. The Shamanism exhibition was very good, but as we don't understand Spanish I had to use Google translate to understand the exhibition texts. Also, what text existed was in a very small font. The material on the lower floor was also excellent, now with English translation of the text, but still almost illegible. Even despite only being partially open, the exhibits were well worth seeing.
Interesting chilean history on display in this small museum. Most are familiar with the Inca empire but this museum highlights the depth of chilean history which goes back more than 10,000 years. Unfortunately the second floor was closed when I visited. And I found the lighting to be strangely dim and inadequate for thus type of museum. Otherwise a great experience.
Beautiful museum. Sadly, only one exhibition was available-I believe it’s been closed for some time now. I had a nice coffee in the very cute cafe inside and the exhibit downstairs was stunning. If in Paris, do visit the Quai Branly for similar, but more extensive items/exhibits
The museum normally costs 8000 soles. We went on 11 November 2022, and didn't get an explanation in English, and found the cost was 5000 soles. It turned out only the level one was open, not level 2, which houses most of the exhibits. So, our anticipated afternoon there took maybe 10 minutes. Also, the captions in Spanish were in bold writing, and were sympathetically lit. The captions in English were in a faint typeface, and lit poorly, so were impossible to read. Save you money (can't say save your time, we were there 10 minutes) and go anywhere else.
Beautiful museum, unfortunately there was just the mais exposition… but it was worth it to get to know the Chile and your people’s histories
Really nice museum, it is a shame that the upper floor is closed at this time. The downstairs is pretty good, dark and somewhat difficult to take flash less photos. Pretty impressive wooden totems or stellae, several Chinchurro mummies, the displays are not as extensive as other museums, but the quality is above average for the specimens displayed
I really enjoyed the Chile antes the Chile exposition. It is not large but enough to give a good idea of the beautiful culture of the traditional custodians of the land we call Chile. It’s paid but a reasonable price $5000, it’s worth it. The other expositions were closed.
Three of us went to the Museum and really enjoyed our visit. We had to show our vaccine passes on entry and then after buying our tickets we had to put any backpacks or bags we had in a locker which is coin operated -!100 pesos coin. The museum collection is relatively small and that said fascinating and eye opening. The exhibits are well kept, accessible and have Spanish and English signs. It was all amazing and very much worth the visit. You are allowed to take photos with no flash. We spent about one and a half hours there. Very much enjoyed our look into ancient Chile and the people who lived there.
Nearly all of the museums in Santiago are free admission except this one. About $6 per person to enter. The displays are very darkly lit with not much continuity. Some of the exhibits were were closed. I would recommend going to one of the other museythat are free. All are closed on Mondays
The majority of the museum is closed at this time. The lighting in the displays was dim and it was often hard to see the artworks, Perhaps the lack of light was to preserve the artworks and that is understandable. That being said, the English narratives accompanying each piece were also often also poorly illuminated. In fact, I could read only a few in the Chile before Chile exhibit. The English narratives that I could read were excellent. It would have been a more rewarding experience to have toured the museum either with an audio guide or docent. Given the high quality of the collection, I would still highly recommend the museum, but with the expectation that most rooms will be closed and that at least some narrative signage will be unreadable due to poor lighting.
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