This church is of great importance from a historical point of view, since it is the first religious construction erected in Chile, and it is directly related to the founder of Santiago, Pedro de Valdivia, and his mistress, Inés de Suárez.

Its history begins in 1540, when Pedro de Valdivia’s hosts arrived from the north to the central valley of this region. They camped by the river in the slopes of the sector called La Chimba. There, Inés de Suárez decided to create a hermitage in a site nearby, considered a sacred place for natives who inhabited the area.

Later, in 1545, after Valdivia officially founded the city of Santiago and distributed lands, Inés de Suárez wanted a bigger and more resistant building. She requested to build another hermitage in stone at the top of the Huechuraba Hill (currently, Cerro Blanco or White Hill), which is consecrated to the Virgin of Montserrat, the Patron Saint of Catalonia, venerated by Inés de Suárez. This is the first place of worship founded in the country. However, due to its difficult access, it returned to its original site at the lower southeast flank of Cerro Blanco. A new chapel and a small adjacent cloister were built next to beautiful and leafy vineyards that led locals to call it “La Viñita” (the Little Vineyard). Unfortunately, the building did not stay for so long; it was nearly destroyed by a massive earthquake in 1647. A new chapel, a third one, was built again. There is no clear information regarding this chapel, even though it is known that it was also demolished.

Thus, this veneration place was slowly dropping into oblivion. The Dominicans, who were owners of the land transferred by Rodrigo de Quiroga, Inés de Suárez’s husband, found it increasingly difficult to maintain the sanctuary. The secularization of a large proportion of the religious led to insufficient friars to meet spiritual demands. Besides, the government then in office wanted to confiscate the land where the chapel was located, so Dominican friars had no other choice than selling it. Pedro Nolasco León and Enrique Campino acquire such land, although the chapel and the cloister were left in charge of the Dominican Order. Subsequently, land was confiscated and was transferred from one person to another. The church was left neglected, hence its ruinous conditions. Eventually it was demolished.

A new plan for building a new church in an adjacent plot was carried out. In order to prevent humidity from causing damages on the new building, its construction was planned on land given by Pedro Nolasco, who had bought it before from the Dominicans. The new church was built in 1834. In 1990 is declared National Monument for being a historical landmark of the foundation of Santiago by Pedro de Valdivia.

Unfortunately, the 2010 earthquake cause serious damages, mainly on its walls, roof and tower structure. However, under Fundación Paternitas foundation, its current administrator, a new restoration program was developed in 2012.

Nowadays, by early 2016, the regional council of the municipal government of Recoleta approved a project for repairing this historical monument, with the collaboration of the Intendence of the Metropolitan Region. The ultimate goal is to return this beautiful church, heritage from the mid-16th century hermitage erected in the Huechuraba Hill, to its past grandeur, and recover a pivotal part of the identity of Santiago.