Run The Planet Museum – World Art Tour

Punta Arenas (Chile)

Monument dedicated to Hernando de Magallanes

By Guillermo Córdova
Plaza Muñoz Gamero, Punta Arenas (Chile)

The statue - which won the contest della Escuela y museo de bellas artes de Santiago - has been realized by the Chilean sculptor Guillermo Córdova, and is a gift to the city by Don José Menéndez, Spanish immigrant. Located in the center of the city of Punta Arenas, in Plaza Muñoz Gamero, this bronze of Hernando de Magallanes (Magellan) was inaugurated on December 16, 1920 in occasion of the fourth "Centenario del Descubrimiento del Estrecho de Magallanes" (Century of the discovery of the Magellan Strait). At Magellan's foot are two indigenous inhabitants. Local legend has it that those who kiss "the native's big toe" are destined to come back to Punta Arenas.