//
Photo: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Matsopoulos, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) is an astronomical observatory located on the summit of Mt. Cerro Tololo in the Coquimbo Region of northern Chile, with additional facilities located on Mt. Cerro Pachón about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the southeast. It is approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) east of La Serena, where support facilities are located. The principal telescopes at CTIO are the 8.4 m surveying Vera C. Rubin Observatory, the 4 m Víctor M. Blanco Telescope, named after Puerto Rican astronomer Víctor Manuel Blanco, and the 4.1 m Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope, which is situated on Cerro Pachón. Other telescopes on Cerro Tololo include the 1.5 m, 1.3 m, 1.0 m, and 0.9 m telescopes operated by the SMARTS consortium. CTIO also hosts other research projects, such as PROMPT, WHAM, and LCOGTN, providing a platform for access to the southern hemisphere for U.S. and worldwide scientific research.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Elqui Valley
A beautiful valley in the otherwise arid region. Equestrian tours are available that climb into hills going in among the papaya farms and looking down on valley. Taste some pisco sour at a distillery and stay the night. Also, there one of the most beautiful, clear and brilliant nights you will ever see. The main villages can easily be done on a bicycle. Vicuña, where Gabriela Mistral was born, and where you can get to see how the Chilean Pisco is made. Pisco Elqui, which is ideal for a romantic escapade and Cochiguaz.
Capilla, casa y claustro de la Divina Providencia
Neoclassical style house built in 1872. It still preserves various accessories such as stained glass windows and altars. Even so, the house is now a school and boarding school that belongs to the congregation of the Sisters of Providence.
Museo Arqueológico
This museum has a record of more than 12,000 objects, distributed in three categories, archeology, where it characterizes regional pre-Hispanic cultures of Chile, ethnography, where objects from ethnic groups in the area are exhibited, such as Mapuches, Selknam and Rapanui and paleontology, in where fossils of vertebrates and invertebrates are exhibited.
Iglesia de San Agustín
Eclectic-style church founded in 1672 by the Jesuits. Throughout history this church has suffered from various thefts and fires. Its last reconstruction was completed in 1994, the year of the 450th anniversary of the founding of the city. This church was declared a national monument.
El Sagrario Parish / Iglesia de la Merced
This church was founded in 1558, but after several attacks it was finally rebuilt in 1830. The tower is in the Gothic style, and is considered the city's architectural heritage.
Our Lady of Mercy Cathedral
This cathedral is the first in the city, founded in 1544. On one side of this is the Plaza Juan Pablo II. Its stained glass windows were brought from France and its bell tower dates from the 20th century. It is a national monument.