Iglesia de San Francisco, Santiago de Chile Iglesia de San Francisco, Santiago de Chile The San Francisco Church (Spanish: "Iglesia de San Francisco") is a Franciscan church on Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins, in the downtown of Santiago de Chile. The church, along with the adjacent convent, is one of the oldest colonial-era building in the country. The church was consecrated in 1622. The bell tower was destroyed by an earthquake in 1647, while the rest of the building successfully resisted it. In 1730 another earthquake badly damaged the rebuilt tower, which was demolished in 1751. The current bell tower is of Victorian architecture and was constructed
José de San Martín Freire captured Talca. Las Heras routed royalist outposts in Juncalito and Potrerillos. Bernardo O'Higgins, who came from Los Patos pass, defeated the royalists at Las Coimas. This allowed the main columns to gather at Aconcagua valley, meeting at the slopes of Chacabuco. Royalist commander Rafael Maroto converged his armies on that location as well. Maroto had 2,450 men and 5 pieces of artillery, San Martín had 3,600 men and 9 pieces of artillery. The misdirection that concealed the path of the bulk of the Army allowed San Martín this advantage, as other royalist forces were scattered in other regions of