This test analyses the spatial configuration of two memory sites of the Chilean dictatorship (1973-1990) located in Santiago: the conversion process of London 38 into a memory centre open to the public and managed by a social organisation, and the process of heritage of Patio 29 and the installation of a memorial on this site. The analysis takes into account the importance of the relationship between stories, legal actions, commemorations, heritage processes and material transformations. It is clear that although both places were part of narratives against the hegemonic dictatorship from a very early stage, it is from recent more open political and cultural contexts that they have acquired official heritage status and received state contributions. There are also new symbolic and political repertoires on the part of the organisations in charge of promoting these sites. Finally, we reflect on the challenges of the material conversions that both sites have experienced, stressing the importance of their uses in terms of their shape, for their consolidation as memory spaces. This suggests institutional learning to tackle the debt of symbolic reparation to victims and the promotion of a critical memory of our dictatorial past. KEYWORDS: memorials, Chilean dictatorship, symbolic repair, commemorations