Chilota architecture
Encyclopedia
Chiloé Archipelago
Chiloé Archipelago consists of several islands lying off the coast of Chile. It is separated from mainland Chile by Chacao Channel in the north, the Sea of Chiloé in the east and Gulf of Corcovado to the southeast. All of the archipelago except Desertores Islands, which are part of Palena...
and neighboring areas of southern Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
. These buildings have been designated a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
.
History
Chiloé, in part because of its physical isolation from the rest of Chile and access to different materials, has a unique colonial architecture that differs substantially from typical Chilean Spanish colonial architecture.Spanish colonial churches
The Spanish, who arrived in the 16th century and their Jesuit missionaries who followed, constructed hundreds of small wooden churches
Churches of Chiloé
The Churches of Chiloé in Chile's Chiloé Archipelago are a unique architectural phenomenon in the Americas and one of the most prominent buildings of Chilota architecture. Unlike classical Spanish colonial architecture the churches of Chiloé are made entirely in native timber with extensive use of...
as part of the Indian Reductions
Indian Reductions
Reductions were settlements founded by the Spanish colonizers of the New World with the purpose of assimilating indigenous populations into European culture and religion.Already since the beginning of the Spanish presence in the Americas, the Crown had been concerned...
mandated by the Crown for Spanish colonization of the Americas
Spanish colonization of the Americas
Colonial expansion under the Spanish Empire was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Christian faith through indigenous conversions...
. The result was a mixing of Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
and indigenous Chilean
Indigenous peoples in Chile
Indigenous peoples in Chile form about 4.6% of the total population .The Mapuches, from the south, accounted for approximately 85 percent of this number...
beliefs.
Houses and buildings
Nearly all the houses and buildings in colonial Chiloe were built with wood, and wooden roof shingle
Roof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...
s were extensively employed. The roof shingles of Fitzroya
Fitzroya
Fitzroya is a monotypic genus in the cypress family.-Species:The single living species, Fitzroya cupressoides, is a tall, long-lived conifer native to the Andes mountains of southern Chile and Argentina, where it is an important member of the Valdivian temperate rain forests...
came to be used as money and called Real
Spanish real
The real was a unit of currency in Spain for several centuries after the mid-14th century, but changed in value relative to other units introduced...
de Alerce. In the late 19th century many palafito
Palafito
A palafito is a stilt village or dwelling erected on bodies of water. The name Venezuela, meaning "Little Venice," may be due to these Palafitos, which reminded Amerigo Vespucci of Venice when he explored Lake Maracaibo...
s, or stilt house
Stilt house
Stilt houses or pile dwellings or palafitte are houses raised on piles over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Stilt houses are built primarily as a protection against flooding, but also serve to keep out vermin...
s, were built in cities such as Castro
Castro, Chile
Castro is a city and commune in the Chilean island of Chiloé Island. Castro is the capital of the Chiloé Province in the Los Lagos Region. It is Chile's third oldest city in continued existence...
and Chonchi
Chonchi
Chonchi is a Chilean town and commune located in Los Lagos Region. Chonchi is a truly rural community. The country people have given a distinct form to its valleys, hills and waterways...
.