La Moneda Palace

La Moneda was the colonial mint house of the city during colonial times, and was designed by the Italian architect Joaquín Toesca. During President Ricardo Lagos's administration, the palace's inner courtyards were opened to the public during certain hours of the day. Lagos also re-opened Morandé 80—a gate used by Chilean presidents to enter the palace since the early 20th century. It was eliminated during the restoration of the palace as not being in the original plans, but was restored because of the heavy symbolism attached to it as being the gate through which Chilean presidents entered La Moneda skipping the main's gate guard protocol or, in other words, as ordinary citizens of the country. It was also the gate through which the body of President Allende was taken out after the 1973 coup. A traditional changing of the guard ceremony takes place every two days on odd-numbered days in odd-numbered months, even-numbered days in even-numbered months, including Sundays, at 10 a.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. on weekends (as of June 2015). A formal ceremony dating back to the 1850s, it lasts about 30 minutes and includes a band playing, troops with horses parading into the square, and much pomp and circumstance. The Carabineros de Chile provides the guard unit and band for the ceremony, the guard unit being composed of a Foot Guards battalion and a Horse Guards squadron. ==Architecture==

Construction Joaquín Toesca had worked on many public buildings in colonial Chile, including the Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral, before he was engaged to design the new royal mint that would become the Palacio de la Moneda. Works on the building started in 1784, with building materials arriving the following year from around Chile and the world: limestone from the Polpaico country estate; sand from the Maipo River; red stones from a quarry at the Cerro San Cristóbal in Santiago; white stone from the neighbouring Cerro Blanco; oak and cypress wood from Valdivia; Spanish metal works from Vizcaya. Twenty varieties of brick were baked in Santiago for the construction of lintels, comers, floors, moldings, and of the solid walls more than a meter thick. Toesca died in 1799, before seeing his work finished, and military engineer Agustin Cavallero took over the project. The "Mint House of Santiago de Chile" finally opened in 1805. The project was designed by Josué Smith strictly following the design of the original construction. The building has been subject to several modifications throughout the years, made by different presidents. The last great restoration of the building was carried out after the 1973 military coup, when large portions of the building were destroyed or damaged. Paths leading down from the plaza give access to the underground Palacio de La Moneda Cultural Center, which hosts a range of exhibitions on Chilean culture and history. ==Gallery==

File:Palacio de LaMoneda02.png|Front view of La Moneda File:Patiodelosnaranjos.jpg|Orange trees yard inside La Moneda File:Plaza Ciudadania1.jpg|Citizenry Square File:Plaza Ciudadania2.jpg|Statue of the President Arturo Alessandri at Citizenry Square File:SALVADOR ALLENDE.jpg|Statue of president Salvador Allende at Constitution Square File:Salonazul.JPG|The "blue room" where the president receives his or her visitors File:Patiodeloscañones.jpg|Cannon yard inside La Moneda File:Vista Capilla Palacio La Moneda.jpg|The chapel ==See also==