Basílica de la Merced

Frommer's Review

It's difficult to believe that all relics associated with Christ are not the exclusive patrimony of the Vatican, but here at the Basílica de la Merced, under a protective crystal dome next to a money collection box, is what is said to be a sliver of the actual cross. How did it get here? The story goes that Spain's King Alfonso XIII donated the artifact in 1912 to Chilean mercenaries. As intriguing are the Basilica's neo-Renaissance architecture and its baroque Bavarian pulpit. The church's religious museum, oddly enough, boasts a sizable collection of Easter Island art (more artifacts than you'll find at the Hanga Roa museum on that island, anyway), including a rongorongo tablet, one of only 29 left in the world.

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