Cerro San Cristóbal

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Statue of the Virgin Mary on the top of Cerro San Cristóbal

Cerro San Cristóbal is a hill in the Barrio Bellavista section of Santiago, Chile. The hill rises 860 m above the rest of Santiago; the peak is the highest point in the city. Its original indigenous name was Tupahue. It was named by the Spanish conquistadors for St Christopher, in recognition of its use as a landmark.

At the peak, there is a church with an amphitheater, and a 22 m statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary donated by France in the 1920s. Pope John Paul II gave mass there in 1987. The spot is a superb location from which to view the city - when the smog permits it.

At its foothills are the Metropolitan Zoo and a Japanese-esque garden, and up there are also two municipal pools, Tupahue and Antilén.