Recap

Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), Chilean poet, diplomat, winner of the 1971 Nobel Prize for Literature, visited China three times.

"Because his poetry acts like a natural force,
revives the destiny and dreams of a continent."

Before we visited Neruda’s Santiago House (La Chascona), we first went to Valparaíso House (La Sebastiana) and Black Island House (Isla Negra).

[Poet Neruda | Former Residence of Valparaiso and Black Island]

Neruda's former residence in Santiago is also the headquarters of the Neruda Foundation (Fundación Pablo Neruda) . It is located in the Bellavista neighborhood at the foot of Cerro San Cristóbal. Compared with the other two Neruda’s former residence is located in a busy city and is easy to reach . Neruda’s three former residences in Chile are all managed by the Neruda Foundation.

The former residence is built on the mountain. Follow the signs on the roadside and you will see the blue house and go up the steps to see the entrance.

Matilde Urrutia was Neruda's third and last wife. In 1953, they happened to pass by this place while walking, and later bought it, built a love nest in this secluded place, and named it La Chascona (Messy Hair). The name was inspired by Matilde Urrutia’s irregular hair. of red curly hair , at that time she was Neruda's underground lover who had not yet disclosed it.

Initially there were only living rooms and bedrooms, and Matilde Urrutia lived alone. In 1955, Neruda separated from his wife Delia del Carril and moved to La Chascona, adding a kitchen, dining room, and later a bar and library, so what you see now is not a whole building, but a group of buildings. Irregular spaces with different heights.

In 1973, on the twelfth day after President Allende was killed in a military coup, Neruda, an ally of Allende, died in a clinic in Santiago. His residence also changed immediately. It was looted and destroyed by Pinochet's military government. After the political unrest subsided, Matilde Urrutia set about restoring La Chascona and lived there until her death in 1985. Matilde UrrutiaAfter his death, he was buried with Neruda in the former residence of Black Island.

Like the other two former residences, Neruda, a serious ocean lover, still regards his home as a ship and himself as the captain. There is obviously no shortage of space, but the restaurant is designed to be as low as the cabin. In the restaurant, you can see many colored glasses and ceramic tableware collected by Neruda. He firmly believed that using different colored glasses can enhance the taste of drinks. The labels on the salt and pepper shakers intentionally read morphine and marijuana.

There is always a bar on this captain's ship. To enter the restaurant, you have to pass through the captain's bar first, and there is more than one bar in this house. There is also a summer bar up the hill. The secret passage leading from the restaurant to the second floor is a spiral staircase, which is also quite cramped and can only accommodate one person. The upstairs of the restaurant is Matilde Urrutia's study and a bedroom. There is a dog on the bed in the bedroom. Very big doll.

From the small building of the restaurant, climb a flight of stairs to the living room. The small building where the living room is located is like a lighthouse, which displays many paintings and wood sculptures that he collected from all over the world ,Coins, shells, furniture and other artworks. This is also where Neruda and his artist friends often gather. Of course, the friends also have to help keep the secrets of Neruda and Matilde Urrutia. Mexican muralist Diego Rivera (Frida Kahlo’s husband) once painted a two-headed portrait of Matilde Urrutia that resembled Medusa, with Neruda’s profile hidden in her curly and fluffy red hair. , alluding to her relationship with Neruda, the painting still hangs in the living room. According to the navigation information, the second floor of the living room should be the master bedroom, but it is not open to the public.

Italy Italian artist Piero Fornasetti’s iconic work “Tema e Variazioni” was inspired by Italian soprano Lina Cavalieri. " series, he made this beautiful face appear in the form of black and white screen printing on ceramics and various home accessories and objects. Neruda called him a magician and not only collected many of his works, but also considered using his illustrations in the book. Some furniture and objects designed by Piero Fornasetti, but photography is not allowed inside Neruda's former residence. From the other side of the living room side There is a small garden outside, and some Piero Fornasetti painting big eyes.

La Chascona was originally designed by Catalan architectural designer Germán Rodríguez Arias, who was exiled to Mexico and Chile due to the Spanish Civil War. At that time, the exiled SpanishRepublicans and Chilean intellectualsoften frequenteda café he designed (Café Miraflores), where Neruda was also a frequent visitor. After came to Chile, he turned to interior design and furniture design. The furniture brand created by is still one of the important furniture manufacturers in Chile. Due to his close relationship with Neruda, he participated in the design of several of the poet's residences and the furniture in them. However, it can be seen that the final result does not have much influence from the architect, but is full of the poet's own thoughts.

After Germán Rodríguez Arias returned to Europe, the expansion of La Chascona was taken over by Chilean architect Carlos Martner. Carlos Martner once described Nerudati's design needs: Once, he had a window, a painting and an armchair that he liked very much, so he wanted to have a space that could accommodate these items. The corners of things.

Carlos Martner's sister Maria Martner is an artist and Neruda's friend. Neruda encouraged her to hold her first solo exhibition and wrote a poem about her, "Piedras para Maria" Asian stones)》. Do you still remember the five-story building in Valparaiso's former residence La Sebastiana? Neruda bought the part above the third floor, and he bought the part downstairs with himMaria MartnerCouple. As a good neighbor and good friend, Maria Martner designed many artworks for Neruda’s home. This one in the garden is her stone mural "Los peces del frío (cold fish)".

Walking up through the garden, we arrived at another bar. There were still many strange things collected by Neruda. For example, there was a pair of giant leather shoes, which were the signature of a shoe store in Neruda’s hometown of Temuco. . Go past the bar and continue up to the library and the French Room, which houses many old maps.

We bought some postcards at the gift shop in La Chascona and got them stamped.

After returning, organize relevant travel information and record it.

La Chascona

The background paper on the left below is the envelope of Neruda's postcard, which is printed with the poet's handwriting using his favorite green ink. The rest of the background paper is the inner pages of a desk calendar, all of which are cut into the same shape. Size, punch holes and you can register.