Basílica de la Merced, Santiago

This Mercedarian basilica in central Santiago traces its origins to the founding of the city and was rebuilt in the nineteenth century in a neo-Renaissance style. Its interior holds gilded altarpieces and a venerated image of the Virgin of Mercy long associated with the city's protection. An attached museum displays colonial and Easter Island artifacts collected by the order, including wooden tablets and carvings. That Rapa Nui collection gives it a distinctive place among Santiago's religious landmarks.