Quinta Normal Glasshouse

Built around 1865 from prefabricated wrought-iron and glass components, probably designed and made in France, this glasshouse first stood on the Santiago estate of the American businessman Henry Meiggs before being moved in 1890 to Parque Quinta Normal. It became the home of the National Botanical Garden's Exotic Plant Observatory until its last director left in 1922, after which it decayed and its collection was lost. Briefly revived between 1989 and 1995 as a medicinal plant conservatory, it was abandoned again for lack of funding. Listed as a Historic Monument in 2009 (decree no. 279), it remains closed to visitors.