Museums

If you are looking to take a break from wine tasting and enjoy a little culture, there are some interesting museums to check out within the Santa Cruz area.

Colchagua Museum (Museo de Colchagua)

The Colchagua Museum opened in 1995 and was renovated after the 2010 earthquake in Chile. It is one of the largest private museums in Latin America and traces the history of the planet and man. There are more than 7,000 objects in the collection that are divided by themes such as Paleontology, Prehistory of Chile and several epochs of local history to the present.

There is also the Great Rescue room which is dedicated to the 2010 rescue of the 33 miners trapped for two months in the San José mine (in the north of Chile), an event that captivated the entire world. In this section you can find interesting testimonial pieces from the camp area called “esperanza camp”, the rescue plans, communication efforts and modern technologies used during this operation.

WEB:https://www.museocolchagua.cl
Open daily
Entrance fees apply

San José del Carmen Museum in El Huique

The El Huique Museum is about 30 minutes from the town of Santa Cruz and is nestled in the patron house Hacienda San José del Carmen reflecting the traditional way of life of Chilean agriculture, based on the hacienda. It is also an extraordinary example of rural architecture at the dawn of the Republic of Chile. The museum was declared a National Historic Landmark and maintained intact by the Chilean Army. It covers more than 79 hectares, including 22 courtyards and areas that designated for dairy production, a neoclassical church, school and cinema.

WEB: https://www.museoelhuique.cl/
Open Tuesday – Sunday
Entrance fees apply

Automobile Museum

Located at the Santa Cruz winery, the Automobile Museum is a unique experience for those who want to look at the evolution of the automotive industry in Chile. Belonging also to the Cardoen Foundation, this museum exhibits a collection of more than 50 cars and motorcycles of different ages and types. Among the historical gems is the car that Queen Isabel II used in her visit to Chile in 1968.
Just 30 minutes from Santa Cruz, on the way to Lolol.

WEB: https://www.rutamuseoscolchagua.cl/museos/museo-del-automovil/:

Open Tuesday – Sunday
Entrance fees apply