Unlike plazas founded in colonial Chilean cities, Punta Arenas’s central plaza was not at first the focus of civic life, but thanks to European immigration and wealth generated by mining, livestock, commerce, and fishing, it became so by the 1880s. Landscaped with Monterey cypress and other exotic conifers, the plaza and surrounding buildings constitute a zona típica national monument; the plaza proper underwent a major renovation in 2004.

Among its features are the Victorian kiosk (1910) that now houses the municipal tourist office and sculptor Guillermo Córdova’s elaborate monument sponsored by wool magnate José Menéndez on the 400th anniversary of Magellan’s 1520 voyage.

Magellan’s imposing figure, embellished with a globe and a copy of his log, stand above a Selkn’am Indian representing Tierra del Fuego, a Tehuelche symbolizing Patagonia, and a mermaid with Chilean and regional coats of arms. According to local legend, anyone touching the Tehuelche’s now well-worn toe—enough have done so to change its color—will return to Punta Arenas.

After about 1880, the city’s burgeoning elite began to build monuments to their own good fortune, such as the ornate Palacio Sara Braun (1895), a national monument in its own right, at the plaza’s northwest corner. Now home to the Club de la Unión and Hotel José Nogueira, the building retains most of its original features, including the west-facing winter garden that now serves as the hotel’s bar/restaurant.

Mid-block, immediately east, the Casa José Menéndez belonged to another of Punta’s wool barons, while at the plaza’s northeast corner, the Comapa travel agency now occupies the former headquarters of the influential Sociedad Menéndez Behety (Magallanes 990). Half a block north, dating from 1904, the Casa Braun-Menéndez (Magallanes 949) houses the regional museum.