Beautiful barrio, dark secret

I made a surprise discovery today of a delightfully quaint neighbourhood not more than a stone's throw from our apartment in downtown Santiago.

Calle Londres (London Street) is a winding cobbled street flanked with picture-perfect Victorian-style mansions; exactly the type of building with patterned tiles, shutters and intricately curved iron-work that I would love to have a top floor flat in.

Yet despite the visions of cream teas and ice cream that this particular street evoked, my reasons for visiting it were altogether more sinister.

Londres 38 on first glance looks as charming as all the other houses. It was only when I spotted the names inscribed in black and white tiles amongst the cobbles outside that I realised I was in the right place.

By now, I'm sure you've grasped where this post is going. Between September 1973 and September 1974, Londres 38 was used as a clandestine detention and torture centre by the military government led by General Augusto Pinochet. It was the first premises to be used in this way by the DINA, the Chilean secret police, to interrogate, torture and ultimately make disappear, 'militants' that actively opposed the military rule.

The house is empty, its starkness and dilapidated condition giving it a haunting feeling. Designated as a 'memory space', survivors and relatives of those lost have recorded an oral history of the building, recreating its layout, its use and the experiences of those detained inside it.

Based on these testimonies, my guide, Karen, gave me a knowledgeable tour of the building, with many of the spaces complementing her speech by, quite simply, speaking for themselves.