An extensive museum with a wide selection of artifacts. Prehistoric fossils to the Chilean mine rescue. There's also a lot of Nazi artifacts which surprised me, normally it's just a couple things but this place has a whole section. Unfortunately there is nothing from modern history (Pinochet/Allende) but otherwise it's a nice way to spend most of the day. There aren't any English or other language translations (FYI). read more

Lovely museum. Much bigger than expected so give yourself time to go through it all. It has a little bit of everything. Trains. Prehistoric. Local culture and soo much more. You can notice the attention to detail in the collection and that it's not just a bunch of random objects. Great place to visit with the family!!! read more

I'm not a huge museum person, but I really enjoyed the Museo de Colchagua. A local told us that it's the "best museum in Latin America" and someone on tripadvisor even said that it's worth the drive from Santiago. Those might be overstatements, but then again, they might not. It really was an impressive museum, which I later came to learn is a PRIVATE museum (the largest in Chile) owned by entrepreneur and arms dealer Carlos Cardoen, who also owns the Casino and hotel attached, making it even more impressive. They say that it takes 4+ hours to properly get through the museum. We did it in under 2, which is a long time for me to spend in any museum (I spent less at the Louvre), and especially long considering that everything was in Spanish so I was mostly just looking at things rather than reading. Your ticket is good for 24 hours, so a lot of people like to come for a bit in the morning, have lunch, then return in the afternoon to finish. The collection includes pre-Columbian anthropomorphic ceramics from all over Latin America; weapons, religious artifacts and Mapuche silver; and a whole room of huasos (cowboy) gear. In the courtyard there is steam-driven machinery, winemaking equipment and a re-creation of Colchagua's original train station. The room just before showcase sold carriages and vintage cars. My favorite part of the museum was the exhibit dedicated to the 33 Chilean miners that were trapped for 69 days. They have all sorts of objects, photos, and films dedicated to the time that the miners spent underground and their ultimate rescue. This exhibit alone makes the museum worth visiting. No photos are allowed, but I did sneak one of the escape pod that rescued the miners. Make sure to make the time to stop by if you are in Santa Cruz / Colchagua Valley - it's a nice change of pace from all the wine tasting. read more

Museo de Colchagua - Chilean Miner exhibit - rescue capsule - Museums Near Me - Santa Cruz, LI

The Santa Cruz is one of the most complete museums I have ever been too. It could be categorized as a history museum, fine arts, technology, textiles, it really offers a bit of everything. And not just Chilean artifacts but artifacts and histories from all over the world and from different time periods. The museum take 4 hours to get through all of it's many rooms. In fact it is so large that your ticket comes with a 24 hour entry value. Making so one can go in and out of the museum as many times as they want within that 24 hour span. I personally enjoyed the pre-columbian section as well as the newest addition on the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped underground in 2011. I honestly enjoyed the Santa Cruz museum more than the Louvre and many other museums that I have visited all over. read more