The Museo Nacional Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna was created by government decree in 1947, but was not inaugurated until 1957. Since then it has been a unit of the Dirección de Bibliotecas, Archivos y Museos.

Its objective is to give information about the life and work of Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna and his times, encouraging historical research, knowledge and reflection about Chile in the nineteenth century.

The museum is located on the site where the villa of Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna (1831-1886) used to be. However, of the original building, built around 1871, only the external pavilion remains, which contained the study, library and archives of Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna. It was declared a National Monument in 1992.

The museum houses an interesting collection of objects (paintings, sculptures, furniture, books, manuscripts, photographs, clothing, household utensils, etc.) which belonged to this important personage and his family.
The museum has a specialized library of Chilean and world history comprising more than 10,000 volumes, including, amongst others, the bibliographic sources of Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna and the libraries of his son-in-law, Luis Orrego Luco, and his grandson Eugenio Orrego Vicuña, who promoted the founding of the museum.

The museum also has scale models, slideshows and interactive CD ROM, amongst other facilities. Cultural outreach activities such as conferences, fora, book launchings, seminars, and art exhibitions also take place here.
It is located at Avenida Vicuña Mackenna 94, Providencia, Santiago. The museum and the library are open to the public from Tuesday to Saturday from 9.30 to 13.00 hrs and from 14.00 to 18.00 hrs. The telephone number is (56-2) 222 96 42 and Fax: 222 96 42.

The email is vima@museo-nac.bs.cl. and the website is http://www.dibam.cl/museos/vicunamaquena.html