Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos

The Museum of Memory and Human Rights is the key place in Santiago for understanding the military dictatorship that ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990. It was inaugurated by President Michelle Bachelet on 11 January 2010 and tells the story of the coup, the repression that followed and the long struggle of victims' families and human rights groups. It is a sobering visit, and an essential one for anyone wanting to understand modern Chile.

The building was designed by a team of Brazilian architects, Mário Figueroa, Lucas Fehr and Carlos Dias, who won an international competition. A long volume clad in copper lattice panels appears to float above a large open plaza and two pools of water, and Víctor Jara's poem Estadio Chile runs across the entrance.

The permanent exhibition is arranged as a chronological route. It begins with the coup and the first days of the dictatorship, including footage of the bombing of La Moneda and the military junta's decrees, then moves through international solidarity, torture, with a map of detention centres and a recreated cell, and a room on children. Later sections cover the churches and human rights organisations such as the Vicaría de la Solidaridad, the relatives of the disappeared, protest and resistance, and finally the 1988 plebiscite and the return to democracy in 1990. A wall of victims' portraits, with a candle-lit space and a touch screen to look up individual stories, forms the emotional centre of the museum. The building also holds Alfredo Jaar's installation Geometría de la Conciencia.

Allow at least two hours. The content includes graphic descriptions and images of torture, so parents should judge whether it suits younger children. An underground documentation centre is open to visitors and researchers, and its archives include material from the Vicaría de la Solidaridad, recognised by UNESCO's Memory of the World programme in 2003. There is a cafeteria on the third level alongside the temporary exhibitions, and the plaza in front hosts concerts and events.

The museum is at Avenida Matucana 501 in Barrio Yungay, on the corner of Catedral street, directly opposite Quinta Normal station on Metro Line 5, with an entrance from the plaza straight into the station. The Quinta Normal park and its museums are right next door, so you can make a half-day of the area. Check the museum's website for current opening times and exhibitions.