Trolleybuses in Valparaíso

The Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso (Spanish: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso) (PUCV), also known as Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (UCV), is one of six Catholic universities in Chile and one of the two pontifical universities in the country, along with the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Founded in 1928, it is located in Valparaíso Region and has about 18,000 students.It is recognized in Chile as an institution with high academic prestige and as a research university due to its acquired research funds and offered postgraduate degrees in the fields of science, engineering, humanities and arts. As a Catholic university, it answers directly to the Holy See and the Bishopric of Valparaíso. The PUCV is a traditional university and one of the twenty-five institutions within the Chilean Rectors' Council (Consejo de Rectores). Although it is not state-owned, a substantial part of its budget is given by state transfers under different programs. PUCV is an urban university. It has a central campus known as Casa Central (Central House) located in downtown Valparaíso, only a few blocks away from the Chilean Congress, the Metro, and the Pacific Ocean. One of the drawbacks of being an urban university is the difficulty of growing at the original site of its foundation, close to the city center. Hence, while some PUCV buildings are on the historic palm-tree-lined Avenida Brasil, severl of its schools are dispersed throughout Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, Quilpué and Quillota. At the 2019 edition of the América Economía magazine university ranking, the university was positioned 4th nationwide and the QS Latin America University Ranking of 2023 has placed it 22nd out of 428 qualifying institutions (and 5th nationwide). The university is accredited for seven years, the maximum number of years awarded by the National Accreditation Commission, for the period between 2021 and 2028. The PUCV, the University of Chile, the Catholic University, the University of Santiago and the University of Concepción are the only institutions in Chile that have received the highest number of years in accreditation. PUCV attracts students from different regions of Chile, as well as hundreds of exchange students from Europe, North America and several countries from South America, due to its student exchange programs.

The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chile's bicameral National Congress, as established in the current Constitution of Chile.

The Chamber of Deputies (Spanish: Cámara de Diputadas y Diputados) is the lower house of Chile's bicameral Congress. Its organisation and its powers and duties are defined in articles 42 to 59 of Chile's current constitution.

The National Congress of Chile (Spanish: Congreso Nacional de Chile) is the legislative branch of the government of the Republic of Chile. The National Congress of Chile was founded on July 4, 1811. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Chamber of Deputies (lower house), of 155 Deputies (120 before 2017) and by the Senate (upper house), formed by 43 Senators (38 before 2017) which will increase its size to 50 senators after the next general election. The organisation of Congress and its powers and duties are defined in articles 42 to 59 of the current constitution and by the Constitutional Organic Law No. 18,918. Congress meets in the Chile Congress building, which was built during the last years of the Pinochet regime and stands in the port city of Valparaíso, some 140 km west of the capital, Santiago. This new building replaced the Former National Congress Building, located in downtown Santiago. On 13 September 1973, the Government Junta of Chile dissolved Congress. Statistical analysis suggest Chilean politicians in Congress "are not randomly drawn from the population, but over-represent high-income communities". As such, Chileans of Castilian-Basque, Palestinian and Jewish ancestry are overrepresented in it.

The Ascensor Barón, built in 1906, is a funicular located on its namesake hill in Valparaíso, Chile, and was declared a Historic Monument on September 1, 1998.

Scuola Italiana Arturo Dell' Oro is a private Italian international school with campuses in Valparaíso and Viña del Mar in Chile. It serves this city and Vina del Mar and has scuola infanzia (preschool) through secondaria II grado (upper secondary school). The Viña del Mar is located in the Miraflores neighborhood.The Società Italiana d'Istruzione was established on 12 October 1912. It acquired land at Av. Yerbas Buenas to establish a permanent Italian school. 128 students attended its first classes in 1933. It moved to unfinished facilities in Av. Pedro Montt in 1941. The Viña del Mar school opened in 2003.

The Polanco Lift is a passenger elevator located in Valparaíso, Chile. It consists of three stations and connects Simpson Street with Polanco Hill. This lift is the only "true" elevator in the city, as all others are technically funiculars. Today it is more visited by tourists than by the local residents.

The Baron Hill (Spanish: Cerro Barón) is one of the 42 hills of the city of Valparaiso, Chile. It is located on the east end of the plan of the city, next to the Dairy Hill, and is a purely residential area. His name is that in 1795 the place was built a fort to protect the area from El Almendral and the northern part of the bay pirate attack, and to call it, the city council decided to pay tribute to Governor Ambrosio O'Higgins, who held the title of Baron of Ballenary, naming the fort finally as Fort of Baron Ballenary, finally giving the name to the hill. Its development began with the development of the sector of El Almendral and construction in 1852 and the station armory Baron, first railway station of Valparaiso to Santiago. Besides the hill going the only path to the city of Quillota. Also hosted a lot of Italian immigrants, who had business in the plan. On the hill is the Church of San Francisco, responsible for the nickname given to Valparaiso, Pancho, as it was the most recognizable by the sailors who came to the city. It is also the location of the Baron elevator, built in 1906.

San Francisco Church (Spanish: Iglesia de San Francisco) is a Catholic church located in Barón Hill, Valparaíso, Chile. The church served as lighthouse to the navigants who were arriving Valparaíso until the early 20th century, being the first recognizable point of the city. Valparaíso is often nicknamed with the diminutive form of Francisco: Pancho. The church was constructed by the Franciscan community. The construction works ended in 1846. The building was remodeled in 1890 by architect Eduardo Provasoli. The church was named National Monument of Chile on 19 July 1983. In the middle of a reconstruction process after the 2010 Chile earthquake, the church was severely damaged by a fire in September 2010. It was once again affected by a fire in August 2013 close to its re-inauguration by President Sebastián Piñera.

The Capilla del Carmen, also known as Capilla de la Medalla Milagrosa, is a chapel located on the lower flank of El Litre Hill, in El Almendral neighborhood of Valparaíso, Chile. Built in 1928, it was run by the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, who provided care to patients of the adjacent Hospital Carlos Van Buren until March 2017. The chapel was declared as a National Monument of Chile on May 20, 2003, within the category of Historic Monuments.

The University of Valparaíso (UV) is a state public university in Chile, with its headquarters and the majority of its campuses in the city of Valparaíso. It has several other campuses in the Valparaiso Region of Chile (Quinta Región) and in Santiago, which is 100 km from Valparaiso. Taking its current name as an autonomous university on February 12, 1981, UV is heir to the most longstanding higher education tradition in Valparaiso and its region. As the major Pacific port south of San Francisco, Valparaiso was an important centre of business in the nineteenth century. Formal studies in law began there in 1878. By 1911, teaching had evolved into Chile’s first regional School of Law, part of the national University of Chile (UCH, which in turn can trace its origins back through two colonial universities to 1622, some 82 years after the Spanish began their colonisation of today’s central Chile). Two private universities would form in Valparaiso in the 1920s and 1930s—what would become Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María (UTFSM, or USM) and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV, or UCV)—as state-backed higher education was also consolidated under the aegis of the national Universidad de Chile system. In 1972, public university education in Valparaiso was organized as a Seat (Sede) of UCH; UV inherited all of this except for the Teaching Institute, which would eventually become the basis of the Universidad de Playa Ancha. On February 12, 1981 the University of Valparaiso adopted its present name and autonomous form. The creation of public regional universities was an important component of the economic reforms undertaken under the military rule that lasted until 1990. UV is one of sixteen members of the Consortium of State Universities of Chile. All of these took their more or less current structure following a decision to divide the Universidad de Chile and the State Technical University into autonomous entities. UV and all state universities are among the 25 members of Chile’s Council of University Rectors (“CRUCH”); these 25 are often referred to as the “traditional” universities, as opposed to the other “new private” universities. UV is also in the Grouping of Regional Universities of Chile, all of whose members are public and have been discussed (in English) together as public regional universities.Higher education contributing much to its economy, Valparaiso is Chile's "college town". Three other traditional universities are based in Valparaiso – UTFSM, PUCV and "Universidad de Playa Ancha" (UPLA) – all of these are organized more in a “campus” style than UV, although Católica has departments strewn throughout the city and branch campuses in the region. UV’s various faculties and schools form a university quarter the length of the plain (plano') 'of central Valparaiso, between the main UPLA campus in the south and in the north the main PUVC building. Since January 2021 the rector of the university has been Osvaldo Corrales.

The Federico Santa María Technical University (Spanish: Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, UTFSM, or simply Santa Maria University) is a Chilean university member of the Rector's Council, founded in 1926 in Valparaíso, Chile. The university has campuses in Valparaiso, Viña del Mar, Santiago (Vitacura and San Joaquín). The Federico Santa María Technical University is the alma mater of several prominent businessmen, engineers and Chilean scientists. Its students and alumni are known as "Sansanos".The UTFSM was the first Chilean university to confer a doctorate in engineering in 1962 and the first higher-education institution in Latin America to confer this degree. The UTFSM university radio is the oldest campus radio in Latin America. The university admission is very competitive and, it is known for its rigorous study requirements, demanding study program. For the years 2011–2016, the UTFSM has an undergraduate retention rate of 82% by the first year of studies, and a 66% by the second year. Less than 1% of its students are international, and most of the available courses are imparted in Spanish. The graduation date is held on the 20th of December every year, since it commemorates the anniversary of the death of the founder, Federico Santa Maria Carrera, on the 20th of December 1925.