Plaza Jurásica

Life-size prehistoric creatures lurk between the palm trees, picnic tables, and jungle gyms of a forested Plaza in Concepción, Chile’s second largest city.

Since 1980, Plaza Acevedo has been home to the Museo de Historia Natural, Concepción’s natural history museum that dates back to 1902. In 2008 the museum installed several full-size fiberglass dinosaurs, and the foliage of the Plaza was re-landscaped to create a habitat for the giant beasts—so much so, the park is now more commonly known as La Plaza de Dinosaurios (Dinosaur Plaza) or simply, La Plaza Jurásica (Jurassic Plaza).

The showpiece of the installation is the 65-foot-long, 26-foot-tall Diplodocus, but not to be outdone by a lanky herbivore, there is a full-scale 20-foot Tyrannosaurus rex just behind. Suspended from tall trees by thick wire there is a swooping Pterosaur with a 20-foot wingspan, and some dinosaur eggs just bursting open.

The park was originally named for a famous Chilean aviator named Luis Acevedo Acevedo, who died in a plane crash not far from the city. Two years after the invasion of the dinosaurs, Concepción was hit by a devastating 8.8 magnitude earthquake, which the sculptures defied, coming through with only minor fractures. The square is free and open to the public, and the museum is small, but worth a visit too.