Centro Artesanal Los Dominicos

For a few centuries after the establishment of Santiago in 1541, the lowlands to the east of the city center were largely rural and used for agriculture.  That included the area now known as Los Dominicos, which, over a couple of centuries, was part of an encomienda owned by several wealthy families.

In 1803, however, the last owner of the encomienda, an Irish immigrant named Don Juan Cranisbro (but originally named Gainsborough), donated the land and the structures on the land, including his house and a chapel built in memory of his two deceased children, to the Dominican Order.  After this, the area would gain the name of Los Dominicos.  The priests would go on to not only make use of the chapel, which is now known as the Iglesia de San Vicente Ferrer (Church of Saint Vincent Ferrer), but also expand and renovate it.  Notably, the church would be used as a hiding place by Manuel Rodríguez during the Chilean War of Independence and by revolutionaries during the Civil War of 1891.

As Santiago’s urban area began to approach Los Dominicos in the second half of the twentieth century, the landscaper and architectural engineer Gonzalo Beltrán Repetto sought to develop a local artisanal crafts market on part of the property adjacent to the church.  This complex, which would eventually be named the Pueblita Los Dominicos, was constructed between 1979 and 1983 and consists of buildings created using mud and straw following local customs.  In 1983, the church would be recognized as a historical monument, and the surrounding area would be designated a historical zone.

Now completely enveloped within Santiago’s urban landscape, Centro Artesanal Los Dominicos (the Los Dominicos Craft Center) is widely seen as one of the best places in the city for both locals and tourists to buy artisanal goods.  The complex, which is currently operated by the Las Condes Municipality's Cultural Corporation, features shops selling goods such as blankets and clothing made from alpaca wool, lapis lazuli jewelry, pottery, and copper wares.  However, the site also has cafés, galleries, an exhibition hall, a theatre, and even a wax museum.  Today, the sprawling complex of short, traditionally constructed buildings as well as the centuries-old church make Centro Artesanal Los Dominicos feel like an island of nineteenth-century architecture within a twenty-first century metropolitan area.