Plaza de la Constitución, Santiago

The ceremonial square before the La Moneda presidential palace, this plaza in central Santiago is the setting for state occasions and the changing of the guard. Bronze statues of former presidents stand around its edges, including one of Salvador Allende overlooking the palace where he died during the 1973 coup. Open paving and reflecting features front the neoclassical palace facade. Beneath the square lies a cultural center carved into the ground, and the plaza remains a focus of national political memory and public ceremony.