Museo Regional de Atacama

The Museo Regional de Atacama is a museum located in Copiapó, the capital of Chile's Atacama Region. Founded in 1973, this nonprofit cultural institution is housed in a national monument building and is dedicated to preserving, researching, and disseminating the cultural and natural heritage of the Atacama region. The museum recorded 2,117 visitors in 2020.

The Museo Regional de Atacama was created on 8 December 1973 and initially operated from the now-demolished Casa de los Intendentes at 630 Atacama Street, displaying archaeological, mineralogical, and historical collections from various local institutions including the Universidad Técnica del Estado, the Escuela Normal Rómulo J. Peña, the Liceo de Hombres de Copiapó, the Centro Cultural Jotabeche, the Municipalidad de Copiapó, the Regimiento Copiapó, and private donors. On 19 April 1974, the founders secured incorporation into the Dirección de Bibliotecas, Archivos y Museos (DIBAM), necessitating a move to premises at the Universidad Técnica del Estado in Copiapó (now Universidad de Atacama) after the Casa de los Intendentes was demolished. In 1978, the museum opened at Villa El Sol, but this location only accommodated exhibition space. A more suitable building was identified and restored: the Casa de los Hermanos Matta, declared a National Monument by decree N.º 1813 on 29 June 1979. The museum opened in this new location in 1982. Beginning in 1997, a major modernization project transformed the institution through renovated spaces, interactive museographic elements, a conservation laboratory, a documentation workshop, collection storage facilities, a museographic design workshop, a multipurpose room, modern equipment, new publications, and extensive outreach activities. Since 2009 under the direction of Guillermo Cortés Lutz, the museum intensified its community engagement. From 2010 onward, achievements included increased visitation, the launch of the Boletín del Museo Regional (a specialized heritage and history journal), and the acquisition of the Fénix 2 capsule that rescued the 33 miners trapped at the San José mine, along with the note "Estamos bien en el refugio los 33" written by miner José Ojeda. The museum has also pursued plans for a new building to accommodate its full collection.

The museum's collections integrate and represent a significant portion of the regional cultural identity of Atacama, Chile. Its holdings encompass archaeological, mineralogical, historical, and ethnographic materials spanning from the archaic period through the nineteenth century, covering approximately 12,000 years of human occupation. The collections are developed and maintained according to International Council of Museums (ICOM) conservation standards, with environmental monitoring systems and preventive conservation measures protecting the displayed heritage.

The permanent exhibition at the Casa Matta presents a didactic synthesis organized across multiple thematic rooms. These include: the lifestyle of the aristocratic class in mid-nineteenth century Atacama; the participation of the Atacama battalions in the War of the Pacific; significant events in Copiapó's history; an archaeological room illustrating the evolution of pre-Hispanic peoples; the Spanish taking of possession on 26 October 1540 and the beginning of the invasion; aspects of the colonial period; and an ethnographic display of photographs documenting moments in the life of the Colla people. Among the most prominent recent acquisitions is the Fénix 2 rescue capsule, which extracted the 33 miners trapped in the mining accident at the San José mine, together with the handwritten note by miner José Ojeda confirming the miners' survival.

The museum occupies the Casa de los Hermanos Matta, a neoclassical building constructed in the mid-nineteenth century that remained in the hands of the Matta Goyenechea family and their descendants before passing through various owners. It was declared a National Monument in 1979 and restored the following year. The building is currently owned by the Instituto de Normalización Previsional and occupied by DIBAM under a comodatum agreement. The construction employs wood, cane, and adobe walling. The visible Oregon pine was imported from North America, while beams and uprights were crafted from native southern Chilean wood. The entire structure rests on an uncut stone base. The wattle-andWF daub consists of wooden uprights and Guayaquil cane, with clay mixed with abundant straw and guano used as plaster. The roof clay layer was traditionally sown with seeds whose roots compacted the mud and prevented cracking. Rooms were papered with plaster and paint finish, and exterior walls received a sand and cement layer imported from the United States or Europe. The building sustained structural damage and cladding losses in the February 2010 and June 2025 earthquakes.

The Museo Regional de Atacama is located in Copiapó, the capital of the Atacama Region in northern Chile. The museum can be accessed through its website at http://www.museodeatacama.cl. As a nonprofit cultural entity without profit motive, it functions under the Dirección de Bibliotecas, Archivos y Museos (DIBAM), now part of Chile's Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage. Its community-oriented programming includes the Boletín del Museo Regional and various extension and cultural diffusion activities. The museum continues to seek expanded premises to display its full collections.