Atlas Obscura - Latest • Feb. 13, 2026, 9:15 p.m.
For a few centuries after the establishment of Santiago in 1541, the lowlands to the east of the city center were largely rural and used for agriculture. That included the area now known as Los Dominicos, which, over a couple of centuries, was part of an encomienda owned by several wealthy families.
In 1803, however, the last owner of the encomienda, an Irish immigrant named Don Juan Cranisbro (but originally named Gainsborough), donated the land and the structures on the land, including his house and a chapel built in memory of his two deceased children, to the Dominican Order. After this, the area would gain the name of Los Dominicos.
The priests would go on to not only make use of the chapel, which is now known as the Iglesia de San Vicente Ferrer (Church of Saint Vincent Ferrer), but also expand and renovate it.