'Flaunt it' seems to have been the main idea behind the shockingly lavish Palacio Cousiño. It was built between 1870 and 1878 by the prominent Cousiño-Goyenechea family after they'd amassed a huge fortune from winemaking and coal and silver mining, and it's a fascinating glimpse of how Chile's 19th-century elite lived.
Carrara marble columns, a half-tonne Bohemian crystal chandelier, Chinese cherrywood furniture, solid gold cutlery, and the first electrical fittings in Chile are just some of the ways they found to fritter away their fortune. Currently, only the grounds are open as the interior has been closed for restorations since the 2010 earthquake.
