Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins (General Liberator Bernardo O'Higgins Avenue), popularly known as La Alameda (meaning, a road surrounded by poplar

Poplar

Populus is a genus of 25–35 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar , aspen, and cottonwood....

 trees), is Santiago, Chile

Santiago, Chile

Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...

's main avenue. It runs east-west in the center of the greater urban area and is 15 km long, and it has 5 lanes in each direction. It was named after Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

's founding father Bernardo O'Higgins

Bernardo O'Higgins

Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme was a Chilean independence leader who, together with José de San Martín, freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. Although he was the second Supreme Director of Chile , he is considered one of Chile's founding fathers, as he was the first holder...

. It was originally a branch of the Mapocho River

Mapocho River

The Mapocho River flows from the Andes mountains onto the west and divides Chile's capital Santiago in two.-Course:...

.

Monuments

La Alameda's principal monuments are dedicated to the military heroes in Chile's history. Near the La Moneda Palace are the statues of José de San Martín

José de San Martín

José Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...

, Manuel Bulnes Prieto, and Bernardo O'Higgins

Bernardo O'Higgins

Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme was a Chilean independence leader who, together with José de San Martín, freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. Although he was the second Supreme Director of Chile , he is considered one of Chile's founding fathers, as he was the first holder...

.

Near the intersection of the Autopista Central

Autopista Central

Autopista Central is a modern, privatized, partially submerged highway in Chile. It is the longest of the Santiago highways with a length of .- External links :*...

 and La Alameda, there is erected the statue to the heroes of the Battle of La Concepción

Battle of La Concepción

The Battle of Concepción was fought on July 9 and July 10, 1882, during the Sierra Campaign of the War of the Pacific. Heavily outnumbered, the Chilean detachment of 77 men under the command of Lieutenant Ignacio Carrera Pinto was annihilated by a 1.300 Peruvian force, many of them armed with...

. A beautiful mosaic was constructed at the edge of Santa Lucía Hill in honor of the poet Gabriela Mistral

Gabriela Mistral

Gabriela Mistral was the pseudonym of Lucila de María del Perpetuo Socorro Godoy Alcayaga, a Chilean poet, educator, diplomat, and feminist who was the first Latin American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1945...

; there are also dozens of other monuments to persons of national and international importance along the central floe of La Alameda.

Santiago Metro

Underneath the avenue runs Line 1 (depicted on subway maps as ), the main line of the Santiago Metro

Santiago Metro

Metro de Santiago is South America's most extensive metro system with 5 lines, 108 stations and 103 kilometres of track making it the second longest in Latin America after that of Mexico City. The metro system serves the city of Santiago, Chile. Three of the lines are rubber-tyred...

. The transit agency's headquarters are located at the corner of La Alameda and Lord Cochrane street. From west to east, the stations along La Alameda are:

• Las Rejas
• Ecuador
• San Alberto Hurtado
• Universidad de Santiago
• Estación Central
  Estación Central metro station
  Estación Central is a station on the Santiago Metro in Santiago, Chile. It is underground, between the stations Universidad de Santiago and Unión Latinoamericana on the same line. It is located on the Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins, in the commune of Estación Central.It is named for...
  
  
• Unión Latinoamericana
• República
  Republica metro station
  Republica is a metro station in Bucharest, servicing the heavy machinery plant with the same name and the Cora hypermarket located in the vicinity...
  
  
• Los Héroes
• La Moneda
• Universidad de Chile
• Santa Lucía
• Universidad Católica
• Baquedano