Seven blocks north of the plaza, on the west side of the wide Avenida Manuel Bulnes, is the Santuario María Auxiliadora, a grimy Neo-Gothic church and convent. The bland interior of the church contains more than its fair share of grotesquely tormented statuary, complete with toupees made from human hair. To the right of the church is the Museo Salesiano Maggiorino Borgatello (Tues– Sun 10am–12.30 & 3–6pm; CH$1500). Amongst the cases of geological samples, jars of pickled marine animals and trays of mounted insects, displays vividly depict the daily life of the extinct Fuegian Indians. The weapons used by these accomplished hunters varied amongst the different tribes: the Alacaluf and Yahgan Indians, who fished from canoes, made long spears with viciously barbed heads for catching fish, while the Ona (Selk'nam) and Haush were expert bowmen and used different types of arrows depending on their prey. The Europeans regarded the Tehuelches as the finest horsemen they had ever seen and marvelled at the skill with which they could bring down a guanaco or rhea (a type of ostrich, locally called a ñandú) using bolas (a throwing weapon of heavy balls linked with string). The museum has a large collection of these weapons and the stone tools used to make them.

One room of the museum is completely taken up by a full-size copy of the Cave of Hands (Cueva de las Manos) the original of which is near Chile Chico, 1600km north of Punta Arenas (see "Around Lago General Carrera"). The 11,000-year-old rock paintings are typical of the nomadic art found throughout Patagonia. The hand images, which give most of these caves their name, were created in two ways: either by wetting the rock with blood and pressing a hand on it, or by blowing ground rock around a hand, creating a silhouette. Among the other paintings are geometric designs and delicate illustrations of guanacos and rheas.

Two blocks north of the Museo Salesiano, on the other side of Avenida Bulnes, lies the city's magnificent cemetery (daily: summer 7.30am–8pm, winter 8am–6pm; free), which covers four city blocks and is the most fascinating sight in Punta Arenas. Crisscrossed by a network of footpaths lined with immaculately clipped cypresses, this eclectic necropolis reflects the turbulent history of Patagonia in marble and stone. The simple statue of a solitary Fuegian Indian, and the solemn epitaphs on the headstones of the pioneers and sailors interred far from their native soil, are dwarfed by the ostentatious mausoleums constructed at the end of last century. In 1919, 25 years after the cemetery opened, Sara Braun commissioned the imposing neoclassical entrance to the cemetery, but even this is but a modest attempt at immortality in comparison with José Menéndez's colossal replica of Victor Emmanuel II's wedding-cake tomb in Rome.