Valdivia, Chile
Encyclopedia
Valdivia is a city and commune in southern Chile
administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia
and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle
, Valdivia
and Cau-Cau
Rivers, approximately 15 km (9 mi) east of the coastal towns of Corral and Niebla
. Since October 2007, Valdivia has been the capital of the newly created Los Ríos Region
and is also the capital of Valdivia Province
. The commune of Valdivia had 140,559 inhabitants (Valdivianos) of which 127,750 lived in the city according to the 2002 census. The main economic activities include tourism, wood pulp
manufacturing, forestry, metallurgy, and beer production. The city is also the home of the Universidad Austral de Chile
, founded in 1954, and Centro de Estudios Científicos
.
The city of Valdivia and Chiloé Island
were once the two southernmost enclaves of the Spanish Empire
. From 1645 to 1740, the city depended directly on the Viceroyalty of Peru
that financed the building of the Valdivian fort system
, which turned Valdivia into one of the most fortified cities of the New World. In the second half of 19th century, Valdivia was the port of entry for German immigrants who were given land and settled in the surrounding areas.
The city was severely damaged by the Great Chilean Earthquake
of 1960 — the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. Debris and destroyed buildings from the earthquake can still be found in the suburban areas — land subsidence and sediments make navigation of the local rivers complex, with some ruined buildings still adjoining the water.
(less than 200 km south of Valdivia), which would place it about a thousand years before the Clovis culture
in North America. This challenges the "Clovis First" model of Migration to the New World
and it is possible that the first inhabitants of Valdivia and Chile travelled to America by watercraft
and not across a land-bridge in the Bering Strait
.
During at least the Middle Archaic southern Chile was populated by indigenous groups that shared a common lithic culture
called the Chan-Chan Complex
after the archaeological site of Chan-Chan
located just some 35 km north of Valdivia along the coast.
By the time of the arrival of the Spanish conquistador
es, Valdivia was inhabited by Huilliche
s (Mapudungun
for People of the South). Huilliches and Mapuche
s were both referred by the Spaniards as Araucanos. Their main language was a variant of Mapudungun, the Mapuche language.
There was a large village called Ainil in present day downtown Valdivia, and the Valdivia River
was called Ainilebu. Ainil seemed to have been an important trade centre due to its ease of access to the sea and the interior using the river network of the Cruces and Calle-Calle River
s, both tributaries of the Valdivia. Ainil may be described as "a kind of little Venice" as it had large areas of wetlands and canals, most of them now drained or filled. The market in Ainil received shellfish
and fish
from the coast, legumes from Punucapa
, and other foods from San José de la Mariquina, an agricultural zone north east of Valdivia. A remnant of this ancient trade is the modern Feria Fluvial (English: Riverside Market) on the banks of Valdivia River. The surroundings of Valdivia were described as large plains having a large population that cultivated potatoes, maize
, quinoa
and legumes among other crops. The population has been estimated by some historians as 30-40 thousand inhabitants as of 1548 based on descriptions made by the conquistadors. Pedro Mariño de Lobera
, an early conquistador and chronicler wrote that there were half a million Indians living within ten leagues (one league is roughly 4.2 km) from the city. Other historians consider these numbers too high and argue that early Spaniards usually exaggerated in their descriptions.
Later Charles Darwin
would state that "there is not much cleared land near Valdivia" which suggests that pre-Hispanic agriculture in Valdivia was far more extensive than the agriculture practiced in the early 19th century.
The first European to visit Valdivia River's estuary
was the Genoese
captain Juan Bautista Pastene
, who took possession of it in 1544 in the name of the Spanish king, Charles V
. He named the river after the Governor of Chile Pedro de Valdivia
.
Pedro de Valdivia later travelled by land to the river described by Pastene, and founded the city of Valdivia in 1552 as Santa María la Blanca de Valdivia. It was the southernmost Spanish settlement in the Americas at the time of the founding. Following the establishment of the church of Santa María la Blanca in Valdivia, more buildings were constructed, so many that it was considered "the second city in the Kingdom of Chile
" by Mariño de Lobera. Many of Chile's most influential conquistadors and future governors were granted land in Valdivia such as Jerónimo de Alderete
, Rodrigo de Quiroga
, Francisco
and Pedro de Villagra
apart from the proper Pedro de Valdivia.
Jerónimo de Bibar
, a chronicler who witnessed the founding wrote:
After Pedro de Valdivia's death, the war with the Mapuche
s, called the War of Arauco, continued as the Spanish made many attempts to defeat the Mapuche and defend the cities and forts built on their territory. On March 17 of 1575 the city was damaged by an earthquake
similar to the Great Chilean Earthquake
of 1960. Until 1575 the Huilliches of Valdivia had not made any notable resistance against their new rulers. They had even fought as Indios amigos with the Spanish against the northern Mapucuhes in the Arauco War. But that year 4,000 Indians that had been fighting in Martín Ruiz de Gamboa's army rebelled when they returned to the surroundings of Valdivia.
During the 16th century the economy of Valdivia was sustained by commerce of agricultural pruducts from nearby areas and by coining and export of placer
gold
from Villarrica
, Madre de Dios
and Osorno
. All this gold was called gold from Valdivia in Lima
and the rest of Chile. Many merchants of Lima had envoys in Valdivia and the city developed a large ship building industry which produced the largest ships in the Kingdom of Chile
.
After the demoralising Battle of Curalaba in 1598, in which the Mapuches killed governor Óñez de Loyola
, the Mapuches and Huilliches made a mass rebellion. The Indians proceeded to destroy or force the abandonment of all the Spanish settlements and forts in their lands, in what came to be known as the Destruction of the Seven Cities. On the morning of 24 November 1599 Huilliches entered the city and massacred its inhabitants, some few being rescued by the ships in the harbour. The border of the Spanish Empire shifted north of the Bío-Bío River
, while the later refounded city of Valdivia remained a Spanish enclave surrounded by native Huilliche territory, and along with Castro, Chile
on the island of Chiloé
, continued to be the southernmost colonies of the Empire.
Eleven days after the first destruction of Valdivia, a group of 270 Spanish soldiers arrived from Perú. The commander of the troops, colonel Francisco del Campo was convinced that the city of Valdivia needed to be repopulated. After Francisco del Campo's expedition left, the Dutch
corsair Sebastian de Cordes occupied the site of Valdivia for some months, giving the Dutch government information about this abandoned part of the Spanish Empire. The Spaniards returned on 13 March of 1602, when captain Francisco Hernández Ortiz established a fort on the ruins of the city. On September 24 natives attacked the fort unsuccessfully, but laid siege. The Spaniards could not acquire food or supplies, and on 3 February 1604 abandoned the fort, with the last starving survivors rescued by ship.
The Dutch
governor of the East Indies
Hendrik Brouwer
, learned about the situation in Valdivia, and decided to establish a base there for further attacks against the Viceroy of Peru. This plan was well accepted as the Netherlands was at war with Spain. The Dutch had previously taken the North of Brazil
from the Spanish-Portuguese crown
, and the idea of creating a South American empire was attractive. In spite of his advanced age, Hendrik Brouwer left his post as governor in the East Indies to personally lead the expedition. The Dutch fleet destroyed the Fort of Carelmapu and the city of Castro
before arriving at Corral Bay
at the mouth of the Valdivia River. Hendrik Brouwer died the 7th of August in Puerto Inglés while waiting for better winds to sail north to Valdivia. John Maurice of Nassau
while in charge of the Dutch part of Brazil had equipped the expedition and had secretly appointed Elias Herckman as commander if Brouwer died. Herckman finally occupied the ruins of Valdivia in 1643. The Dutch did not find the gold mines they expected and the hostility of the natives forced them to leave on 28 October 1643.
Pedro Álvarez de Toledo y Leiva
Viceroy of Peru (1639–1648) knew of the strategic importance of Valdivia and decided to repopulate and fortify it once for all. He financed partly the expedition to repopulate Valdivia with his own capital. The contingent in charge of the mission was organized in Peru and consisted of seventeen ships filled with building materials and supplies that astounded contemporaries by its magnitude. The local government of Chile could not secure Valdivia as it was engaged in continuous war with the Mapuches and was deeply dependent on the Real Situado
, an annual payment of silver from Potosí
to finance the army of Chile. The Valdivia enclave was placed directly under the control of the Viceroyalty of Peru
that administered Valdivia from its repopulation in 1645 until 1740. Corral, located on the river entrance to Valdivia, became one of the most fortified bay at the time
, with 17 forts. During this time it was several times proposed to move the city of Valdivia to Mancera Island
. Valdivia's original site, downtown of modern Valdivia was repopulated in 1684.
From the 18th century onwards Valdivia was used as a base for colonization of southern Chile. This was partly fuelled by rumours about a fabulous city called Trapananda, Lin Lin or City of the Caesars
(Spanish: Ciudad de los Césares) that was situated in the unexplored lands of Patagonia
. An expedition from Valdivia searching for this city founded Río Bueno
in 1777. In 1784 the Governors of Chile and Chiloé were ordered to establish a Camino Real
from Valdivia to Chacao Channel
in order to connect Ancud
with Valdivia by a land road. This led to the celebration of the treaty of Río Bueno with local Huilliche
s in 1789. But by 1792 the Huilleches rebelled and planned to assault Valdivia. In 1793 the Parliament of Las Canoas was arranged. This treaty allowed the Spanish to build the road and repopulate Osorno
in 1796. Osorno had previously been destroyed in 1602. With the Parliament of Las Canoas the local Huilliches became subjects of the Spanish Crown but were allowed to retain their lands and social structure. They were also meant to defend the land against Spain's enemies and the Spanish to defend them from hostile tribes. By the same time Huilliche
lands around Valdivia were slowly overtaken by mestizo
s and nearby Indians became "reduced" (Spanish: reducidos), "pacified" by a combination of military force and conversion into Christianity. The territories north of Valdivia were not totally incorporated into the Chilean state until the 1880s when the Chilean army overwhelmed the indigenous resistance during the occupation of the Araucanía
.
Self governing juntas appeared in Spanish America and Spain after Napoleon occupied Spain and held the Spanish king Fernando VII captive. Many juntas, as was the case of Chile, declared plans to rule their territory in the absence of the legitimate king. At the time of the first governing junta of Chile
in 1810 the Valdivian governor, an Irishman, Albert Alexander Eagar, led the celebration of what was seen as an affirmation of the legitimacy of the Spanish king. However, Valdivian independentists, such as Camilo Henríquez
, saw an opportunity to gain absolute independence from Spain, organized a coup on 1 November 1811, and joined other Chilean cities that were already revolting against the old order. Four months after the coup, on 16 March 1812 a counterrevolutionary coup took control of the city and created a War Council. The War Council broke trade relations with the rest of Chile and confirmed Valdivia's loyalty to the Spanish government.
Even after several defeats of the Spanish troops during the Chilean Independence War, Valdivia and Chiloé
remained loyal to the Spanish King. By 1820 the newly created Chilean Navy
, commanded by Lord Thomas Cochrane
, captured Valdivia
, but failed to liberate Chiloé. Cochrane's land-based attack took the Spanish by surprise, avoiding a direct confrontation with the highly-defended forts at the entrance to the Valdivia River. When loyal troops in Valdivia heard the news about the fall of Corral they sacked the city and fled south to reinforce Chiloé, passing by Osorno
.
Chilean Supreme Director, and Libertador
, Bernardo O'Higgins
founded the city of La Unión
south of Valdivia in 1821, to secure the way to Osorno, a city that had been repopulated in 1796 by his father Ambrosio O'Higgins. Valdivia had been a province of the General Captaincy of Chile
and was in 1826 incorporated as one of the eight provinces of Chile.
On February 20, 1835, Valdivia was affected by the worst earthquake in the area in several decades, an event witnessed by Charles Darwin
. He also stated that "there is not much cleared land near Valdivia" which contrasted with the description made by early Spaniards of large fields and extensive croplands.
The expansion and economic development of the city were limited in the early 19th century. To jump-start economic development, the Chilean government initiated a highly focussed immigration program under Bernhard Eunom Philippi
and later Vicente Pérez Rosales
as government agents. Through this program, thousands of Germans
settled in the area, incorporating then-modern technology and know-how to develop agriculture and industry. While immigrants that arrived to the Llanquihue
area where often poor farmers, Valdivia received more educated immigrants, including political exiles and merchants. Some of the immigrants that arrived in Valdivia established workshops and built new industries. One of the most famous immigrants was Carlos Anwandter
, an exile from Luckenwalde
who arrived to Valdivia in 1850 and in 1858 founded Chile's first German school. Other Germans left the city and became settlers, drawn by the promise of free land. They were often given forested land, which they cleared to turn into farms. Native Mapuche
and Huilliche
either sold their land or were pushed into reservations. The Osorno department of Valdivia Province was moved to Llanquihue Province
(created in 1853) as consequence of German immigration to the Llaquihue area.
Valdivia prospered with industries, including shipyards, the Hoffmann gristmill
, the Rudloff shoe factory, the Anwandter beer company and many more. The steel mill
s of Corral were the largest recorded private investment in Chile at the time, and were the first steel mills in South America
. In 1891 Valdivia became a commune according to a law that created such subdivisions. After the Malleco Viaduct
was built in 1890 the railroads advanced further south, reaching Valdivia in 1895. The first passenger train arrived in 1899. In 1909 a fire destroyed 18 city block
s in downtown Valdivia, which were rebuilt with modern concrete buildings. By 1911 lumber production, from clearing native forests, became the most important industry. Cattle-raising was a growing industry, and wheat was grown on the cleared lands. Lumber, cattle, leather, flour and beer were exported. In 1895 the city's population was of 8,062 inhabitants and was estimated in 9,704 as of 1902.
The economic prosperity of Valdivia continued throughout the first half of the 20th Century. In 1917 the first "Valdivian Week" (Spanish: Semana Valdiviana) was celebrated. Chile's oldest beauty content, "Queen of The Rivers" (Spanish: Reina de Los Ríos) began the same year. The city evolved as an early tourist center in Chile, while popular songs that named Valdivia and the Calle-Calle River
made it better known in Chilean popular culture. The Pedro de Valdivia Bridge
crossing the Valdivia River was built in 1954. Valdivia came to be one of the most important industrial centre in Chile together with the capital Santiago and the main port city, Valparaíso
.
The commercial and human flux Valdivia suffered two setbacks in early 20th century, first the connection of Osorno
by railroad to central Chile which meant that Valdivia lost the quality of being the port that connected Osono to Central Chile. Later on 1911 the opening of the Panama Canal
meant a decrease in ship traffic all over Chile since ships travelling fom the north Atlantic to north Pacific did not longer had to pass through the Straits of Magellan or visit any Chilean port.
On May 22, 1960, south-central Chile suffered the most powerful earthquake
ever recorded, rating 9.5 on the Moment magnitude scale
, with Valdivia being the most affected city. The earthquake generated devastating tsunami
s that affected Japan
and Hawaii
. Spanish-colonial forts around Valdivia
were severely damaged, while soil subsidence destroyed buildings, deepened local rivers, and created wetlands of the Río Cruces y Chorocomayo - a new aquatic park north of the city.
Large sections of the city flooded after the earthquake, and a landslide near the Tralcán
Mount dammed the Riñihue Lake
. Water levels in Lake Riñihue rose more than 20 meters, raising the danger of a catastrophic break and of destroying everything downriver. Government authorities drew plans for evacuating the city, but many people left on their own. Danger to the city was reduced after a large team of workers opened a drainage channel in the landslide; water levels of the lake slowly returned to normal levels. There is evidence that a similar landslide and earthquake happened in 1575.
The 1973 Chilean coup d'etat and the military's actions that followed brought dozens of detainees to Valdivia apart from imposing a nation wide curfew
. In October a group of 12 young men, among them José Gregorio Liendo
, were brought from the Complejo Forestal y Maderero Panguipulli
in the Andes to be executed in Valdivia by firing squad due to alleged participation in the assault on Neltume police station and "guerrilla activities".
After the Great Chilean Earthquake
Valdivia's economy and political status declined. Much of the city was destroyed and many inhabitants left. By 1974, the military junta reorganized the political divisions of Chile and declared Valdivia a province of the Los Lagos Region
with Puerto Montt
as the regional capital. Many Valdivians resented the decision, and felt theirs should have been the legitimate regional capital—while Valdivia was founded in 1552, and had resisted pirate attacks, hostile natives
and several earthquakes, Puerto Montt was a relatively new city founded only in 1853 (three hundred and one years later).
Since the liberalization of the economy in Chile in the 1980s the forestry sector in Valdivia boomed, first by exporting wood chips to Japan
from Corral and then by producing woodpulp in Mariquina (50 km northeast of Valdivia). This led to deforestation and substitution of native Valdivian temperate rainforests to plant pines and eucalyptus
, but also created new jobs for people with limited education. Valdivia also benefitted from the development of salmon
aquaculture
in the 90s, but to a much lesser extent than places such as Puerto Montt
and Chiloé.
Valdivia is often promoted for its unique characteristics, that make it different from other cities in Chile: Valdivia has an early Spanish colonial past, plus a later history of German colonization. Both eras left visible landmarks such as the forts of Corral Bay
and the German-style wood houses. The governments of Spain and Germany currently maintain honorary consul
ates in Valdivia. The city is commonly seen as a tourist magnet in Chile, and sometimes described as La Perla del Sur (The Pearl of the South) and as La ciudad mas linda de Chile (Chile's most beautiful city).
Every year during the summer months of January and February the municipality organizes many free cultural events along the river site, such as concerts, sporting events, and other entertainment. To mark and celebrate the end of the touristic summer months, half way through February all entertainment reaches its climax with the celebration of noche de Valdivia (Valdivian night). During this night many local groups and communities present themselves on boats during a night parade over the river. Every boat has its own theme related with one theme of that year. At the end a jury picks the winners in different categories. The parade is by tradition started by a boat which presents la reina de los ríos.
In recent years Valdivians have showed an increasing interest in nature and ecotourism
. An example of this was the formation of Acción por los Cisnes an ecologist group formed to protect black-necked swans and the natural environment that surrounds the city, particularly wetlands created or expanded by the Great Chilean Earthquake
.
With the founding of Universidad Austral
in 1954 and the arrival of the CECS
research center, Valdivia is now considered a major research center in Chile, particularly in areas related to nature such a glaciology
and ecology
.
The Great Chilean Earthquake
and the national government's creation of the Los Lagos Region
were difficult for Valdivian society. Valdivians resented to be punished first by a major earthquake and then by being placed under the administration of what they perceived to be a less-deserving city, Puerto Montt
. The recent creation of a new, smaller, but more independent region (Los Ríos), with Valdivia as its capital, reduced the previous stigma.
as Valdivia historically depended on the Viceroyalty of Peru
.
and Collico suburban areas. Until the building of Pedro de Valdivia Bridge
, inhabitants of Isla Teja
lived isolated from the city, where it was common that children first learned to speak German
before Spanish. Nowadays the German language
is preserved by the Instituto Alemán Carlos Anwandter
one of Latin America
's oldest German schools. German descendants also form Valdivia's oldest fire station Germania, located in Isla Teja.
German immigrants and their descendants formed their social club Club Alemán, which after World War II
changed names to Club la Unión. German workers once had their own club simply called El Alemán (The German).
Valdivia also hosts Bierfest Valdivia, a celebration that could be described as a small, regional Oktoberfest
, despite being celebrated in late January or February of every year (during the local summer, when there is the largest influx of tourists). The main sponsor and organizer is Kunstmann
, a local beer
company, founded by German nationals, but since bought out by the largest beer and beverages company in Chile (CCU).
of the National Statistics Institute
, the commune of Valdivia spans an area of 1015.6 sqkm and has 140,559 inhabitants (68,510 men and 72,049 women). Of these, 129,952 (92.5%) lived in urban area
s and 10,607 (7.5%) in rural areas. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 15.1% (18,391 persons).
The city of Valdivia spans 42.39 sqkm had a population of 127,750 and 35,217 homes, giving it a population density of 3013.7 PD/sqkm. The commune is divided into 19 census districts with one recognized town, Niebla, with an area of 1.55 sqkm, population of 2,202 (in 1,169 homes) and population density of 1420.6 PD/sqkm.
, Calle-Calle
and Cruces
joins near the city forming the larger Valdivia River
. Valdivia River in turn empties to Corral Bay
in the Pacific Ocean
just some 15 km west of Valdivia. This river network made Valdivia a trade center even since Pre-Hispanic times. The city itself was built on a riverine terrace but expanded later over adjacent wetlands. Nowadays the city is virtually surrounded by hills by all sides except north where Valdivia's lowlands connect to the flatlands of San José de la Mariquina. The hilly areas around Valdivia are covered with forest, some of which correspond to planted exotic species such as Douglas-fir
, Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus globulus
. Other areas of forest are used for conservation and recreational purposes although some parts the forest have given place to new urbanizations.
The oldest rocks in Valdivia are named after a pelithic
schist
s, mica
ceous slate
s, metagreywacke
s and oceanic type mafic
metavolcanics. The schist, slates and greywackes originated from sedimentation
, probably above the oceanic crust
of a passive continental margin
for more than 400 mya. As part of the subduction zone in western Gondwana
and later South America
the sediments become folded
and faulted in a forearc
wedge
. While being subducted in an ancient Peru-Chile Trench
they underwent medium-grade metamorphism after a combination of low temperature and high pressure
. Along with sedimentary rocks parts of the basalt
ic ocean crust were also deformed. These rocks emerged to the wedge surface later by buoyancy
and erosion of overlying material. They constitutes now the Bahía Mansa Metamorphic Complex
which collided or accrecented to South America in Early Paleozoic.
After the amalgamation
of Gondwana and Laurentia
into Pangea, the subduction at the western edge of the continent ceased for a brief period. With the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean in the Mesozoic as background, the a subduction zone appeared once more at the western margin together with its associated orogeny and volcanic activity forming the Andes.
In the Tertiary
the Intermediate Depression sunk as a graben
and remained large periods below sea level together with the Valdivian Coast Range. The coast range as we know it today have resulted from the uplifting above sea level of the Bahía Mansa Metamorphic Complex
, a forearc wedge
, after it had been separated from the Andes by the Intermediate Depression.
A tectonically and eustatically stable period during the Oligocene
and Early Miocene
allowed erosion to create deep valleys in the Coast Range and peat swamps at what is now the estuary
of the Valdivia basin. About 23.5 million years ago this stable period was interrupted by a mayor volcanic eruption and 23 mya ago an increase in convergence rate at the Peru-Chile Trench
caused an uplift of the landscape and renewed erosion. However basin subsidence
and a marine transgression
formed deep embayments, tidal flats, bayhead deltas and beaches.
influences. In short Valdivia features a Marine west coast climate, an oceanic climate
with a distinct drying trend during the summer. A similar climate is found in the Pacific Northwest
region of North America
. The natural vegetation is the Valdivian temperate rainforests.
During the summer months (December, January and February) the average temperature is about 17 °C, while in winter the temperature descends to 9 °C. The annual average temperature for Los Ríos Region
is 11 °C, while the mean temperature amplitude is 8.8 °C and the daily is 11 °C. Average annual precipitation
is 2,593 mm, distributed through the year, but primarily between March and October. Hail occurs with some frequency during winter, but snow falls rarely. The last times it snowed in Valdivia were in July 2007 and in August 1995 during the so-called Terremoto Blanco
(Spanish
for White Earthquake). The Seven Lakes
in the interior help to keep an average relative humidity of 80% for the region as whole and there are no months with less than 75% average humidity. The precipitation is generated by frontal systems that cross the zone, which produce cloudiness and few clear days. The leeward effect of the Valdivian Coast Range is minimal due to its low height (715 m at Cerro Oncol
) and the gap in the range at Valdivia River
's outflow to the Pacific Ocean
. Recent climate change
have caused precipitations to drop in Araucanía
, Los Ríos
and Los Lagos Region
s during the period from 1961 to 2000 with the highest decrease, of -15 mm a−1, being registered around Valdivia.
(alcalde
) and a municipal council
(consejales). The city's current mayor is Bernardo Berger Fett, a member of the right-wing National Renewal Party
.
Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Valdivia is represented in the Chamber of Deputies
by Alfonso De Urresti (PS
) and Roberto Delmastro (RN) as part of the 53rd electoral district, (together with Lanco
, Mariquina, Máfil
and Corral). The commune is represented in the Senate
by Andrés Allamand
(founder of National Renewal Party) and former president Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
(PDC
) as part of the 16th senatorial constituency (Los Ríos Region). Neither senator is native to Validivia.
The creation of Los Ríos Region
and environmental
issues have dominated the politic scene of Valdivia in recent years. The communist lawyer Wladimir Riesco headed the legal actions against pulp mill enterprise CELCO
after the deaths of Black-necked Swan
s in Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary
in 2004.
cellulose pulp mill, a group of citizens formed the Accion por los Cisnes (Action for the Swans) ecology group. Action for the Swans attracted the attention of the national newspapers and succeeded in temporarily closing down Valdivia Pulp Mill
through a court order.
The main economic activities of Valdivia include; university activity, metallurgy
, naval construction (Asenav
, Alwoplast), aquaculture
, food processing, and forestry-related activities (harvesting and processing of wood from nearby plantations of eucalyptus
and Douglas-fir
s). Large enterprises such as CELCO
, Bomasil, and Louisiana-Pacific
have established wood processing factories near Valdivia. Specialty beer
(Kunstmann
) and chocolate
(Entrelagos
) production are also part of the Valdivian economy.http://www.gobiernodechile.cl/canal_regional/datos_geograficos.asp?veregion=14#6
Tourism during the summer months (December, January, February) is a major income source for Valdivias economy. Valdivia is an old tourist destination in Chile and is most valued for its natural beauty and culture. In 1917 "Valdivian Week" (Spanish: Semana Valdiviana) was celebrated for the first time, and the city began to distinguish itself as a tourism centre in Chile.
s and universities
. The largest and oldest university is the Universidad Austral de Chile
(UACh) that was founded by decree in 1954 as one of Chile's seven original Chilean Traditional Universities
. Its main campus is located in Isla Teja
but it has other minor campus and properties spread through the city and Valdivia Province
. Since the liberalization of higher education in Chile in the 80s other universities have established campuses in Valdivia, including Universidad Arturo Prat
, Universidad San Sebastián
, Universidad Santo Tomas and Universidad de Los Lagos
.
(Deutsche Schule Valdivia) founded in 1858 is Chile's second oldest German school after the Instituto Alemán de Osorno (1854). Other notable private schools are Windsor School
and Colegio San Luis de Alba. Among public schools Instituto Salesiano de Valdivia, Liceo Rector Armando Robles Rivera and Liceo Comercial have reached good results.
, rowing
, rugby
, golf
, indoors swimming
, indoors and outdoors basketball
and some other sports are available throughout the area. Rowing is practised in Valdivia in three clubs: Club Deportivo Phoenix Valdivia, Club Centenario de Remeros and Club Arturo Prat. Valdivian rowers Cristian Yantani and Miguel Cerda
won the first place in Men's Lightweight Coxless Pair-Oared Shells at the world championship in Seville
, 2002.
Club Deportivo Valdivia is Valdivia's main basketball team and plays in Chiles first division, DIMAYOR
where it won the 2001 season. In 1977 and 2001 Valdivia hosted South Americas Men's Basketball Championship.
The football club Club Deportivo Deportes Valdivia
, founded in 2003, plays currently in the Chilean third division.
and Calle-Calle River
s but other areas of the city such as Isla Teja
and Las Animas are connected by bridges. The main accesses to the city are Calle-Calle Bridge
from the north and a southern access. Both accesses connect the city with the Pan-American Highway
and run through forested areas and wetlands.
Calle-Calle Bridge, the first bridge built, connects the city with Las Animas and forms the northern highway access to the city. Pedro de Valdivia Bridge
was built in 1954 and connects Isla Teja
island, where many German immigrants lived. During the Great Chilean Earthquake only the minor Caucau Bridge (Las Animas-Isla Teja) was destroyed, while all other bridges were repaired and are still in use. In 1987 Augusto Pinochet
opened Río Cruces Bridge
making the coastal town of Niebla
accessible by road, and also Torobayo
and Punucapa
. Calle-Calle Bridge, the main access to the city was enlarged in the 1990s.
, one of Chile's most important shipyard companies. Fishing boats travel inland from the coast to sell fish at the Feria Fluvial market. Only one ferry operation remains significant, the Niebla
-Corral line, as is it much shorter to reach Corral by ferry
than following a circuitous road. Some of the locations that are regularly reached by tourist boats include Mancera Island
and Punucapa
.
that lies 32 km northeast of the city following the north entrance road that connects the city with the Pan American Highway. The smaller but much nearer Las Marías Airport
is used primarily by minor airplanes and no airline
s operate there.
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...
administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia
Pedro de Valdivia
Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, where he served as lieutenant under Francisco Pizarro in Peru, acting as his second in command...
and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle
Calle-Calle River
Calle-Calle River also called Gudalafquén in Mapudungun, is a river in Valdivia Province, southern Chile. It drains waters from the San Pedro River to the Valdivia River, which in turn flows into Corral Bay on the Pacific Ocean.The Calle-Calle is the only river in Chile that is considered...
, Valdivia
Valdivia River
The Valdivia River or Río Valdivia, as it is known locally, is a major river in southern Chile. It is the continuation of the Calle-Calle River, from the point where it meets the Cau-Cau River in the city of Valdivia. The Valdivia river ends in Corral Bay, on the Pacific coast. Other tributaries...
and Cau-Cau
Cau-Cau River
Cau-Cau River is minor river in the city of Valdivia, southern Chile. Cau-Cau River acts as a regulating channel between Cruces River and Calle-Calle River forming the Isla Teja island in front of the city centre. It confluence with Calle-Calle River marks the beginning of Valdivia River....
Rivers, approximately 15 km (9 mi) east of the coastal towns of Corral and Niebla
Niebla, Chile
Niebla is a coastal Chilean town close to the city of Valdivia, Valdivia Province, Los Lagos Region. Niebla is located on the northern edge, at the mouth of the Valdivia River, across from Corral. Niebla's beach and folk market are popular tourist destinations during the summer, together with the...
. Since October 2007, Valdivia has been the capital of the newly created Los Ríos Region
Los Ríos Region
The XIV Los Ríos Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is Valdivia. Pop. 356,396 . It began to operate as region on October 2, 2007. It was created by subdividing the Los Lagos Region in southern Chile...
and is also the capital of Valdivia Province
Valdivia Province
Valdivia Province is one of two provinces of the southern Chilean region of Los Ríos . The provincial capital is Valdivia. Located in the province are two important rivers, the Calle-Calle / Valdivia River and the Cruces River.It is part of Northern Patagonia and its wild virgin forest embrace the...
. The commune of Valdivia had 140,559 inhabitants (Valdivianos) of which 127,750 lived in the city according to the 2002 census. The main economic activities include tourism, wood pulp
Wood pulp
Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibres from wood, fibre crops or waste paper. Wood pulp is the most common raw material in papermaking.-History:...
manufacturing, forestry, metallurgy, and beer production. The city is also the home of the Universidad Austral de Chile
Universidad Austral de Chile
Southern University of Chile is a research university in Chile based in Valdivia although it has some institutions and careers in Puerto Montt. Founded by decree on 7 September 1954 it is one of the eight original Chilean Traditional Universities...
, founded in 1954, and Centro de Estudios Científicos
Centro de Estudios Científicos
Centro de Estudios Científicos also known by its acronym CECS is a private, non-profit corporation based in Valdivia, Chile, devoted to the development, promotion and diffusion of scientific research. CECs research areas include biophysics, molecular physiology, theoretical physics, glaciology and...
.
The city of Valdivia and Chiloé Island
Chiloé Island
Chiloé Island , also known as Greater Island of Chiloé , is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean...
were once the two southernmost enclaves of the Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
. From 1645 to 1740, the city depended directly on the Viceroyalty of Peru
Viceroyalty of Peru
Created in 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was a Spanish colonial administrative district that originally contained most of Spanish-ruled South America, governed from the capital of Lima...
that financed the building of the Valdivian fort system
Valdivian Fort System
The Fort System of Valdivia are a series of Spanish colonial fortifications at Corral Bay, Valdivia and Cruces River established to protect the city of Valdivia, in southern Chile. During the period of Spanish rule , it was one of the biggest systems of fortification in the Americas. It was also a...
, which turned Valdivia into one of the most fortified cities of the New World. In the second half of 19th century, Valdivia was the port of entry for German immigrants who were given land and settled in the surrounding areas.
The city was severely damaged by the Great Chilean Earthquake
Great Chilean Earthquake
The 1960 Valdivia earthquake or Great Chilean Earthquake of Sunday, 22 May 1960 is to date the most powerful earthquake ever recorded on Earth, rating 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale...
of 1960 — the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. Debris and destroyed buildings from the earthquake can still be found in the suburban areas — land subsidence and sediments make navigation of the local rivers complex, with some ruined buildings still adjoining the water.
Pre-Hispanic times (12,000 B.P.-1543)
The area around Valdivia may have been populated since 12,000 – 11,800 B.C according to archaeological discoveries in Monte VerdeMonte Verde
Monte Verde is an archaeological site in southern Chile, located in the northern Patagonia near Puerto Montt, Chile, which has been dated to 14,800 years BP . This dating adds to the evidence showing that settlement in the Americas pre-dates the Clovis culture by roughly 1000 years...
(less than 200 km south of Valdivia), which would place it about a thousand years before the Clovis culture
Clovis culture
The Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleo-Indian culture that first appears 11,500 RCYBP , at the end of the last glacial period, characterized by the manufacture of "Clovis points" and distinctive bone and ivory tools...
in North America. This challenges the "Clovis First" model of Migration to the New World
Models of migration to the New World
There have been several models for the human settlement of the Americas proposed by various academic communities. The question of how, when and why humans first entered the Americas is of intense interest to archaeologists and anthropologists, and has been a subject of heated debate for centuries...
and it is possible that the first inhabitants of Valdivia and Chile travelled to America by watercraft
Watercraft
A watercraft is a vessel or craft designed to move across or through water. The name is derived from the term "craft" which was used to describe all types of water going vessels...
and not across a land-bridge in the Bering Strait
Bering Strait
The Bering Strait , known to natives as Imakpik, is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, USA, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65°40'N,...
.
During at least the Middle Archaic southern Chile was populated by indigenous groups that shared a common lithic culture
Archaeological culture
An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of artifacts from a specific time and place, which are thought to constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between the artifacts is based on archaeologists' understanding and interpretation and...
called the Chan-Chan Complex
Chan-Chan
thumb|right|300px|View of the beach of Chan-Chan and the forested Tren-Tren peninsula south of the main archaeological site.Chan-Chan is an archaeological site and beach on the coast of the commune of Mehuín in southern Chile. Chan-Chan is known to have been inhabited by hunter-gatherers during...
after the archaeological site of Chan-Chan
Chan-Chan
thumb|right|300px|View of the beach of Chan-Chan and the forested Tren-Tren peninsula south of the main archaeological site.Chan-Chan is an archaeological site and beach on the coast of the commune of Mehuín in southern Chile. Chan-Chan is known to have been inhabited by hunter-gatherers during...
located just some 35 km north of Valdivia along the coast.
By the time of the arrival of the Spanish conquistador
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
es, Valdivia was inhabited by Huilliche
Huilliche
The Huilliche is an ethnic group of Chile, belonging to the Mapuche culture. They live in mountain valleys in an area south of Toltén River and on Chiloé Archipelago...
s (Mapudungun
Mapudungun
The Mapuche language, Mapudungun is a language isolate spoken in south-central Chile and west central Argentina by the Mapuche people. It is also spelled Mapuzugun and sometimes called Mapudungu or Araucanian...
for People of the South). Huilliches and Mapuche
Mapuche
The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
s were both referred by the Spaniards as Araucanos. Their main language was a variant of Mapudungun, the Mapuche language.
There was a large village called Ainil in present day downtown Valdivia, and the Valdivia River
Valdivia River
The Valdivia River or Río Valdivia, as it is known locally, is a major river in southern Chile. It is the continuation of the Calle-Calle River, from the point where it meets the Cau-Cau River in the city of Valdivia. The Valdivia river ends in Corral Bay, on the Pacific coast. Other tributaries...
was called Ainilebu. Ainil seemed to have been an important trade centre due to its ease of access to the sea and the interior using the river network of the Cruces and Calle-Calle River
Calle-Calle River
Calle-Calle River also called Gudalafquén in Mapudungun, is a river in Valdivia Province, southern Chile. It drains waters from the San Pedro River to the Valdivia River, which in turn flows into Corral Bay on the Pacific Ocean.The Calle-Calle is the only river in Chile that is considered...
s, both tributaries of the Valdivia. Ainil may be described as "a kind of little Venice" as it had large areas of wetlands and canals, most of them now drained or filled. The market in Ainil received shellfish
Shellfish
Shellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...
and fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
from the coast, legumes from Punucapa
Punucapa
Punucapa is a hamlet of pre-Hispanic origin in Los Ríos Region, Chile. Its isolated location by the Cruces River and the Valdivian Coastal Range has make the village an ecotourism attraction. The wetlands of the river is the home to thousands of birds; the Black-necked Swan is the most emblematic...
, and other foods from San José de la Mariquina, an agricultural zone north east of Valdivia. A remnant of this ancient trade is the modern Feria Fluvial (English: Riverside Market) on the banks of Valdivia River. The surroundings of Valdivia were described as large plains having a large population that cultivated potatoes, maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, quinoa
Quinoa
Quinoa , a species of goosefoot , is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal, or grain, as it is not a member of the grass family...
and legumes among other crops. The population has been estimated by some historians as 30-40 thousand inhabitants as of 1548 based on descriptions made by the conquistadors. Pedro Mariño de Lobera
Pedro Mariño de Lobera
Pedro Mariño de Lobera was a Spanish conquistador and chronicler of the Arauco War in the Kingdom of Chile.-Biography:A professional soldier who served in the war between Spain and France, he went to the Americas in 1545. Mariño joined the forces of Pedro de La Gasca in Havana, Cuba, when he...
, an early conquistador and chronicler wrote that there were half a million Indians living within ten leagues (one league is roughly 4.2 km) from the city. Other historians consider these numbers too high and argue that early Spaniards usually exaggerated in their descriptions.
Later Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
would state that "there is not much cleared land near Valdivia" which suggests that pre-Hispanic agriculture in Valdivia was far more extensive than the agriculture practiced in the early 19th century.
Spanish colony (1544–1810)
Corral Bay
Corral Bay is a bay in the mouth of the Valdivia River, southern Chile. Its main towns are Corral and Niebla. The mouth of the bay is between Juan Latorre point and Morro Gonzalo, with a width of 5.5 km. All the year the bay is transited by merchant, transport and fish boats...
was the Genoese
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
captain Juan Bautista Pastene
Juan Bautista Pastene
Giovanni Battista Pastene was a Genoese maritime explorer who while in the service of the Spanish crown, explored the coasts of Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile as far south as to the archipelago of Chiloé....
, who took possession of it in 1544 in the name of the Spanish king, Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
. He named the river after the Governor of Chile Pedro de Valdivia
Pedro de Valdivia
Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, where he served as lieutenant under Francisco Pizarro in Peru, acting as his second in command...
.
Pedro de Valdivia later travelled by land to the river described by Pastene, and founded the city of Valdivia in 1552 as Santa María la Blanca de Valdivia. It was the southernmost Spanish settlement in the Americas at the time of the founding. Following the establishment of the church of Santa María la Blanca in Valdivia, more buildings were constructed, so many that it was considered "the second city in the Kingdom of Chile
Kingdom of Chile
The General Captaincy of Chile or Gobernacion de Chile, was an administrative territory of the Viceroyalty of Peru in the Spanish Empire from 1541 to 1818, the year in which it declared itself independent, becoming the Republic of Chile...
" by Mariño de Lobera. Many of Chile's most influential conquistadors and future governors were granted land in Valdivia such as Jerónimo de Alderete
Jerónimo de Alderete
Jerónimo de Alderete y Mercado was a Spanish conquistador who was later named governor Chile, but died before he could assume his post.-Early life:...
, Rodrigo de Quiroga
Rodrigo de Quiroga
Rodrigo de Quiroga López de Ulloa was a Spanish conquistador of Galician origin. He was twice the Royal Governor of Chile.-Early life:...
, Francisco
Francisco de Villagra
Francisco de Villagra Velázquez was a Spanish conquistador, and three times governor of Chile.-Early life:Born at [Santervás de Campos], he was the son of Alvaro de Sarría and Ana Velázquez de Villagra, who were not married. For this reason he took the name of his mother...
and Pedro de Villagra
Pedro de Villagra
Pedro de Villagra y Martínez was a Spanish soldier who participated in the conquest of Chile, being appointed its Royal Governor between 1563 and 1565....
apart from the proper Pedro de Valdivia.
Jerónimo de Bibar
Jerónimo de Vivar
Jerónimo de Vivar was a Spanish historian of the early conquest and settlement of the Kingdom of Chile, and author of Crónica y relación copiosa y verdadera de los reinos de Chile....
, a chronicler who witnessed the founding wrote:
After Pedro de Valdivia's death, the war with the Mapuche
Mapuche
The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
s, called the War of Arauco, continued as the Spanish made many attempts to defeat the Mapuche and defend the cities and forts built on their territory. On March 17 of 1575 the city was damaged by an earthquake
1575 Valdivia earthquake
The 1575 Valdivia earthquake was an earthquake in Chile that caused the subsequent flood of Valdivia much like the 1960 Valdivia earthquake caused the ensuing Riñihuazo flooding. It occurred at 14:30 local time on December 16, 1575. It had an estimated magnitude of 8.5 on the surface wave...
similar to the Great Chilean Earthquake
Great Chilean Earthquake
The 1960 Valdivia earthquake or Great Chilean Earthquake of Sunday, 22 May 1960 is to date the most powerful earthquake ever recorded on Earth, rating 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale...
of 1960. Until 1575 the Huilliches of Valdivia had not made any notable resistance against their new rulers. They had even fought as Indios amigos with the Spanish against the northern Mapucuhes in the Arauco War. But that year 4,000 Indians that had been fighting in Martín Ruiz de Gamboa's army rebelled when they returned to the surroundings of Valdivia.
Placer deposit
In geology, a placer deposit or placer is an accumulation of valuable minerals formed by gravity separation during sedimentary processes. The name is from the Spanish word placer, meaning "alluvial sand". Placer mining is an important source of gold, and was the main technique used in the early...
gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
from Villarrica
Villarrica, Chile
Villarrica is a city and commune in southern Chile located on the western shore of Villarrica Lake in the Province of Cautín, Araucanía Region south of Santiago and close to the Villarrica Volcano ski center to the south east. Residents of Villarrica are known as Villarriquences.Tourism, grain and...
, Madre de Dios
Madre de Dios Mine
thumb|right|250px|View of one of the Mines in the Madre de Dios areaMadre de Dios, located east the town of Máfil in Chile, is a placer deposit of gold that has been mined several times since its discovery in 1556. The bedrock of the Madre de Dios area is made of metamorphic and crystalline rocks...
and Osorno
Osorno, Chile
Osorno is a city and commune in southern Chile and capital of Osorno Province in the Los Lagos Region. It had a population of 145,475, as of the 2002 census...
. All this gold was called gold from Valdivia in Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
and the rest of Chile. Many merchants of Lima had envoys in Valdivia and the city developed a large ship building industry which produced the largest ships in the Kingdom of Chile
Kingdom of Chile
The General Captaincy of Chile or Gobernacion de Chile, was an administrative territory of the Viceroyalty of Peru in the Spanish Empire from 1541 to 1818, the year in which it declared itself independent, becoming the Republic of Chile...
.
After the demoralising Battle of Curalaba in 1598, in which the Mapuches killed governor Óñez de Loyola
Martín García Óñez de Loyola
Don Martín García Óñez de Loyola was a Spanish Basque soldier and Royal Governor of Chile.-Early life:...
, the Mapuches and Huilliches made a mass rebellion. The Indians proceeded to destroy or force the abandonment of all the Spanish settlements and forts in their lands, in what came to be known as the Destruction of the Seven Cities. On the morning of 24 November 1599 Huilliches entered the city and massacred its inhabitants, some few being rescued by the ships in the harbour. The border of the Spanish Empire shifted north of the Bío-Bío River
Bío-Bío River
The Biobío River is the second largest river in Chile. It originates from Icalma and Galletué lakes in the Andes and flows 380 km to the Gulf of Arauco on the Pacific Ocean....
, while the later refounded city of Valdivia remained a Spanish enclave surrounded by native Huilliche territory, and along with Castro, Chile
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...
on the island of Chiloé
Chiloé Island
Chiloé Island , also known as Greater Island of Chiloé , is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean...
, continued to be the southernmost colonies of the Empire.
Eleven days after the first destruction of Valdivia, a group of 270 Spanish soldiers arrived from Perú. The commander of the troops, colonel Francisco del Campo was convinced that the city of Valdivia needed to be repopulated. After Francisco del Campo's expedition left, the Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
corsair Sebastian de Cordes occupied the site of Valdivia for some months, giving the Dutch government information about this abandoned part of the Spanish Empire. The Spaniards returned on 13 March of 1602, when captain Francisco Hernández Ortiz established a fort on the ruins of the city. On September 24 natives attacked the fort unsuccessfully, but laid siege. The Spaniards could not acquire food or supplies, and on 3 February 1604 abandoned the fort, with the last starving survivors rescued by ship.
The Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
governor of the East Indies
East Indies
East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...
Hendrik Brouwer
Hendrik Brouwer
Hendrik Brouwer was a Dutch explorer, admiral, and colonial administrator both in Japan and the Dutch East Indies....
, learned about the situation in Valdivia, and decided to establish a base there for further attacks against the Viceroy of Peru. This plan was well accepted as the Netherlands was at war with Spain. The Dutch had previously taken the North of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
from the Spanish-Portuguese crown
Iberian Union
The Iberian union was a political unit that governed all of the Iberian Peninsula south of the Pyrenees from 1580–1640, through a dynastic union between the monarchies of Portugal and Spain after the War of the Portuguese Succession...
, and the idea of creating a South American empire was attractive. In spite of his advanced age, Hendrik Brouwer left his post as governor in the East Indies to personally lead the expedition. The Dutch fleet destroyed the Fort of Carelmapu and the city of 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...
before arriving at Corral Bay
Corral Bay
Corral Bay is a bay in the mouth of the Valdivia River, southern Chile. Its main towns are Corral and Niebla. The mouth of the bay is between Juan Latorre point and Morro Gonzalo, with a width of 5.5 km. All the year the bay is transited by merchant, transport and fish boats...
at the mouth of the Valdivia River. Hendrik Brouwer died the 7th of August in Puerto Inglés while waiting for better winds to sail north to Valdivia. John Maurice of Nassau
John Maurice of Nassau
John Maurice of Nassau was count and prince of Nassau-Siegen.He was born in Dillenburg...
while in charge of the Dutch part of Brazil had equipped the expedition and had secretly appointed Elias Herckman as commander if Brouwer died. Herckman finally occupied the ruins of Valdivia in 1643. The Dutch did not find the gold mines they expected and the hostility of the natives forced them to leave on 28 October 1643.
Pedro Álvarez de Toledo y Leiva
Pedro de Toledo y Leiva, 1st Marquis of Mancera , was a Spanish nobleman general, colonial administrator, and diplomat who served as Viceroy of Galicia and Peru from December 18, 1639 to September 20, 1648.-Early life:...
Viceroy of Peru (1639–1648) knew of the strategic importance of Valdivia and decided to repopulate and fortify it once for all. He financed partly the expedition to repopulate Valdivia with his own capital. The contingent in charge of the mission was organized in Peru and consisted of seventeen ships filled with building materials and supplies that astounded contemporaries by its magnitude. The local government of Chile could not secure Valdivia as it was engaged in continuous war with the Mapuches and was deeply dependent on the Real Situado
Real Situado
The Real Situado was an annual payment of silver from the Viceroyalty of Peru to finance the Spanish army of Chile that as result of the Arauco War. Most of the silver came from Potosí in present day Bolivia....
, an annual payment of silver from Potosí
Potosí
Potosí is a city and the capital of the department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the highest cities in the world by elevation at a nominal . and it was the location of the Spanish colonial mint, now the National Mint of Bolivia...
to finance the army of Chile. The Valdivia enclave was placed directly under the control of the Viceroyalty of Peru
Viceroyalty of Peru
Created in 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was a Spanish colonial administrative district that originally contained most of Spanish-ruled South America, governed from the capital of Lima...
that administered Valdivia from its repopulation in 1645 until 1740. Corral, located on the river entrance to Valdivia, became one of the most fortified bay at the time
Valdivian Fort System
The Fort System of Valdivia are a series of Spanish colonial fortifications at Corral Bay, Valdivia and Cruces River established to protect the city of Valdivia, in southern Chile. During the period of Spanish rule , it was one of the biggest systems of fortification in the Americas. It was also a...
, with 17 forts. During this time it was several times proposed to move the city of Valdivia to Mancera Island
Mancera Island
Mancera Island is a minor island at the mouth of Valdivia River, in southern Chile. It was named after the Spanish viceroy of Peru Pedro de Toledo, 1st Marquis of Mancera, who fortified the island. The fort was a vital point in the Valdivian Fort System, preventing enemy ships from reaching...
. Valdivia's original site, downtown of modern Valdivia was repopulated in 1684.
From the 18th century onwards Valdivia was used as a base for colonization of southern Chile. This was partly fuelled by rumours about a fabulous city called Trapananda, Lin Lin or City of the Caesars
City of the Caesars
The City of the Caesars , also variously known as City of the Patagonia, Wandering City, Trapalanda or Trapananda, Lin Lin or Elelín, is a mythical city of South America. It is supposedly located somewhere in Patagonia, in some valley of the Andes between Chile and Argentina...
(Spanish: Ciudad de los Césares) that was situated in the unexplored lands of Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
. An expedition from Valdivia searching for this city founded Río Bueno
Río Bueno, Chile
Río Bueno is a city and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Río Bueno. It is located in Ranco Province in Los Ríos Region...
in 1777. In 1784 the Governors of Chile and Chiloé were ordered to establish a Camino Real
Inca road system
The Inca road system was the most extensive and advanced transportation system in pre-Columbian South America. The network was based on two north-south roads with numerous branches. The best known portion of the road system is the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu...
from Valdivia to Chacao Channel
Chacao Channel
The Chacao Channel is located in Los Lagos Region, Chile and separates Chiloé Island from mainland Chile. The channel was created during the Quaternary glaciations by successive glaciers that flowed down fron the Andes to the coast...
in order to connect Ancud
Ancud
Ancud is a city in southern Chile located in the northernmost part of the island and province of Chiloé, in Los Lagos Region .-Geography:...
with Valdivia by a land road. This led to the celebration of the treaty of Río Bueno with local Huilliche
Huilliche
The Huilliche is an ethnic group of Chile, belonging to the Mapuche culture. They live in mountain valleys in an area south of Toltén River and on Chiloé Archipelago...
s in 1789. But by 1792 the Huilleches rebelled and planned to assault Valdivia. In 1793 the Parliament of Las Canoas was arranged. This treaty allowed the Spanish to build the road and repopulate Osorno
Osorno, Chile
Osorno is a city and commune in southern Chile and capital of Osorno Province in the Los Lagos Region. It had a population of 145,475, as of the 2002 census...
in 1796. Osorno had previously been destroyed in 1602. With the Parliament of Las Canoas the local Huilliches became subjects of the Spanish Crown but were allowed to retain their lands and social structure. They were also meant to defend the land against Spain's enemies and the Spanish to defend them from hostile tribes. By the same time Huilliche
Huilliche
The Huilliche is an ethnic group of Chile, belonging to the Mapuche culture. They live in mountain valleys in an area south of Toltén River and on Chiloé Archipelago...
lands around Valdivia were slowly overtaken by mestizo
Mestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
s and nearby Indians became "reduced" (Spanish: reducidos), "pacified" by a combination of military force and conversion into Christianity. The territories north of Valdivia were not totally incorporated into the Chilean state until the 1880s when the Chilean army overwhelmed the indigenous resistance during the occupation of the Araucanía
Occupation of the Araucanía
The Occupation of Araucanía was a series of military campaigns, agreements and penetrations by the Chilean army and settlers which led to the incorporation of Araucanía into Chilean national territory...
.
Independence and growth (1811–1959)
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...
in 1810 the Valdivian governor, an Irishman, Albert Alexander Eagar, led the celebration of what was seen as an affirmation of the legitimacy of the Spanish king. However, Valdivian independentists, such as Camilo Henríquez
Camilo Henríquez
Friar José Camilo Henríquez González was a priest, author, politician, and is considered an intellectual antecedent to and founding father of the Republic of Chile for his passionate leadership and influential writings...
, saw an opportunity to gain absolute independence from Spain, organized a coup on 1 November 1811, and joined other Chilean cities that were already revolting against the old order. Four months after the coup, on 16 March 1812 a counterrevolutionary coup took control of the city and created a War Council. The War Council broke trade relations with the rest of Chile and confirmed Valdivia's loyalty to the Spanish government.
Even after several defeats of the Spanish troops during the Chilean Independence War, Valdivia and Chiloé
Chiloé Island
Chiloé Island , also known as Greater Island of Chiloé , is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean...
remained loyal to the Spanish King. By 1820 the newly created Chilean Navy
Chilean Navy
-Independence Wars of Chile and Peru :The Chilean Navy dates back to 1817. A year before, following the Battle of Chacabuco, General Bernardo O'Higgins prophetically declared "this victory and another hundred shall be of no significance if we do not gain control of the sea".This led to the...
, commanded by Lord Thomas Cochrane
Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, 1st Marquess of Maranhão, GCB, ODM , styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a senior British naval flag officer and radical politician....
, captured Valdivia
Capture of Valdivia
The Capture of Valdivia was a battle in the Chilean War of Independence between Spanish forces commanded by Colonel Manuel Montoya and the Chilean forces under the command of Lord Cochrane, held on 3 and 4 February of 1820.-Background:...
, but failed to liberate Chiloé. Cochrane's land-based attack took the Spanish by surprise, avoiding a direct confrontation with the highly-defended forts at the entrance to the Valdivia River. When loyal troops in Valdivia heard the news about the fall of Corral they sacked the city and fled south to reinforce Chiloé, passing by Osorno
Osorno, Chile
Osorno is a city and commune in southern Chile and capital of Osorno Province in the Los Lagos Region. It had a population of 145,475, as of the 2002 census...
.
Chilean Supreme Director, and Libertador
Libertador
Libertador may refer to:*one of several people known as "Libertadores", particularly José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar*El Libertador, Buenos Aires, Argentina*Puerto Libertador, Colombia...
, Bernardo O'Higgins
Bernardo O'Higgins
Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme was a Chilean independence leader who, together with José de San Martín, freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. Although he was the second Supreme Director of Chile , he is considered one of Chile's founding fathers, as he was the first holder...
founded the city of La Unión
La Unión, Chile
La Unión is a city and commune of the Ranco Province in the Los Rios Region in Chile. It is situated approximately 40 km north of Osorno and 80 km south east of Valdivia. It covers an area of approximately 2136.7 km² and has a population of 39.447 of which 25,615 are considered part...
south of Valdivia in 1821, to secure the way to Osorno, a city that had been repopulated in 1796 by his father Ambrosio O'Higgins. Valdivia had been a province of the General Captaincy of Chile
Kingdom of Chile
The General Captaincy of Chile or Gobernacion de Chile, was an administrative territory of the Viceroyalty of Peru in the Spanish Empire from 1541 to 1818, the year in which it declared itself independent, becoming the Republic of Chile...
and was in 1826 incorporated as one of the eight provinces of Chile.
On February 20, 1835, Valdivia was affected by the worst earthquake in the area in several decades, an event witnessed by Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
. He also stated that "there is not much cleared land near Valdivia" which contrasted with the description made by early Spaniards of large fields and extensive croplands.
The expansion and economic development of the city were limited in the early 19th century. To jump-start economic development, the Chilean government initiated a highly focussed immigration program under Bernhard Eunom Philippi
Bernhard Eunom Philippi
Berhard Eunom Philippi was a German naturalist, explorer and colonization agent for Chile.-Biography:His father was John Wilhelm Eberhard Philippi and his mother Mary Anne Krumwiede. In 1818 the family moved to Switzerland, where Rodolph and his brother Bernard entered the school of Johann...
and later Vicente Pérez Rosales
Vicente Pérez Rosales
Vicente Pérez Rosales was a politician, traveller, merchant, miner and Chilean diplomat that organized the colonization by Germans and Chileans of the Llanquihue area. Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park is named after him....
as government agents. Through this program, thousands of Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
settled in the area, incorporating then-modern technology and know-how to develop agriculture and industry. While immigrants that arrived to the Llanquihue
Llanquihue
Llanquihue may refer to:*Lake Llanquihue, the second largest lake in Chile*Llanquihue Province, a province of Chile located in the southern Los Lagos Region*Llanquihue, Chile, a Chilean commune and city in Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region...
area where often poor farmers, Valdivia received more educated immigrants, including political exiles and merchants. Some of the immigrants that arrived in Valdivia established workshops and built new industries. One of the most famous immigrants was Carlos Anwandter
Carlos Anwandter
Carlos Anwandter was a German political exile that emigrated to Valdivia, Chile in 1850 after participating in the Revolutions of 1848...
, an exile from Luckenwalde
Luckenwalde
Luckenwalde is the capital of the Teltow-Fläming district in the German state of Brandenburg. It is situated on the Nuthe river north of the Fläming Heath, at the eastern rim of the Nuthe-Nieplitz Nature Park, about south of Berlin...
who arrived to Valdivia in 1850 and in 1858 founded Chile's first German school. Other Germans left the city and became settlers, drawn by the promise of free land. They were often given forested land, which they cleared to turn into farms. Native Mapuche
Mapuche
The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
and Huilliche
Huilliche
The Huilliche is an ethnic group of Chile, belonging to the Mapuche culture. They live in mountain valleys in an area south of Toltén River and on Chiloé Archipelago...
either sold their land or were pushed into reservations. The Osorno department of Valdivia Province was moved to Llanquihue Province
Llanquihue Province
Llanquihue Province is one of four provinces of the Chilean region of Los Lagos . Its capital is Puerto Montt. Chile's second largest lake, Lake Llanquihue, is located in the province as well as four volcanoes: Osorno, Calbuco, Puntiagudo and Cerro Tronador....
(created in 1853) as consequence of German immigration to the Llaquihue area.
Valdivia prospered with industries, including shipyards, the Hoffmann gristmill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
, the Rudloff shoe factory, the Anwandter beer company and many more. The steel mill
Steel mill
A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel.Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process. First, iron ore is reduced or smelted with coke and limestone in a blast furnace, producing molten iron which is either cast into pig iron or...
s of Corral were the largest recorded private investment in Chile at the time, and were the first steel mills in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. In 1891 Valdivia became a commune according to a law that created such subdivisions. After the Malleco Viaduct
Malleco Viaduct
The Malleco Viaduct is a railway bridge located in central Chile, passing over the Malleco River valley at the south entrance of Collipulli in the Araucania Region. It was opened by President José Manuel Balmaceda on October 26, 1890. At that time, it was the highest such bridge in the world...
was built in 1890 the railroads advanced further south, reaching Valdivia in 1895. The first passenger train arrived in 1899. In 1909 a fire destroyed 18 city block
City block
A city block, urban block or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest area that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are the space for buildings within the street pattern of a city, they form the basic unit of a city's urban fabric...
s in downtown Valdivia, which were rebuilt with modern concrete buildings. By 1911 lumber production, from clearing native forests, became the most important industry. Cattle-raising was a growing industry, and wheat was grown on the cleared lands. Lumber, cattle, leather, flour and beer were exported. In 1895 the city's population was of 8,062 inhabitants and was estimated in 9,704 as of 1902.
The economic prosperity of Valdivia continued throughout the first half of the 20th Century. In 1917 the first "Valdivian Week" (Spanish: Semana Valdiviana) was celebrated. Chile's oldest beauty content, "Queen of The Rivers" (Spanish: Reina de Los Ríos) began the same year. The city evolved as an early tourist center in Chile, while popular songs that named Valdivia and the Calle-Calle River
Calle-Calle River
Calle-Calle River also called Gudalafquén in Mapudungun, is a river in Valdivia Province, southern Chile. It drains waters from the San Pedro River to the Valdivia River, which in turn flows into Corral Bay on the Pacific Ocean.The Calle-Calle is the only river in Chile that is considered...
made it better known in Chilean popular culture. The Pedro de Valdivia Bridge
Pedro de Valdivia Bridge
Pedro de Valdivia Bridge is an arch bridge spanning Valdivia River, that separates downtown Valdivia from Isla Teja island a residential area.Together with Río Cruces Bridge it allows connection from Valdivia to the coastal town Niebla....
crossing the Valdivia River was built in 1954. Valdivia came to be one of the most important industrial centre in Chile together with the capital Santiago and the main port city, Valparaíso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
.
The commercial and human flux Valdivia suffered two setbacks in early 20th century, first the connection of Osorno
Osorno, Chile
Osorno is a city and commune in southern Chile and capital of Osorno Province in the Los Lagos Region. It had a population of 145,475, as of the 2002 census...
by railroad to central Chile which meant that Valdivia lost the quality of being the port that connected Osono to Central Chile. Later on 1911 the opening of the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
meant a decrease in ship traffic all over Chile since ships travelling fom the north Atlantic to north Pacific did not longer had to pass through the Straits of Magellan or visit any Chilean port.
Great Chilean Earthquake and Los Lagos Region (1960–2006)
- See also: Great Chilean EarthquakeGreat Chilean EarthquakeThe 1960 Valdivia earthquake or Great Chilean Earthquake of Sunday, 22 May 1960 is to date the most powerful earthquake ever recorded on Earth, rating 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale...
, RiñihuazoRiñihuazoThe Riñihuazo is the name given to the damming of Riñihue Lake on 22 May 1960, after a landslide caused by the Great Chilean Earthquake blocked its outflow. According to the chronicler Mariño de Lobera a similar event occurred after the 1575 Valdivia earthquake.During the Great Chilean Earthquake,...
, Los Ríos RegionLos Ríos RegionThe XIV Los Ríos Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is Valdivia. Pop. 356,396 . It began to operate as region on October 2, 2007. It was created by subdividing the Los Lagos Region in southern Chile...
.
On May 22, 1960, south-central Chile suffered the most powerful earthquake
Great Chilean Earthquake
The 1960 Valdivia earthquake or Great Chilean Earthquake of Sunday, 22 May 1960 is to date the most powerful earthquake ever recorded on Earth, rating 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale...
ever recorded, rating 9.5 on the Moment magnitude scale
Moment magnitude scale
The moment magnitude scale is used by seismologists to measure the size of earthquakes in terms of the energy released. The magnitude is based on the seismic moment of the earthquake, which is equal to the rigidity of the Earth multiplied by the average amount of slip on the fault and the size of...
, with Valdivia being the most affected city. The earthquake generated devastating tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
s that affected Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. Spanish-colonial forts around Valdivia
Valdivian Fort System
The Fort System of Valdivia are a series of Spanish colonial fortifications at Corral Bay, Valdivia and Cruces River established to protect the city of Valdivia, in southern Chile. During the period of Spanish rule , it was one of the biggest systems of fortification in the Americas. It was also a...
were severely damaged, while soil subsidence destroyed buildings, deepened local rivers, and created wetlands of the Río Cruces y Chorocomayo - a new aquatic park north of the city.
Large sections of the city flooded after the earthquake, and a landslide near the Tralcán
Tralcan
Tralcán is a triangular shaped mount near Riñihue Lake, Chile. It is located south of the outflow dividing western Riñihue in two arms. Despite been sacred for the huilliches for centuries, the mount became famous when several landslides near Tralcan dammed the Riñihue Lake, after the Great...
Mount dammed the Riñihue Lake
Riñihuazo
The Riñihuazo is the name given to the damming of Riñihue Lake on 22 May 1960, after a landslide caused by the Great Chilean Earthquake blocked its outflow. According to the chronicler Mariño de Lobera a similar event occurred after the 1575 Valdivia earthquake.During the Great Chilean Earthquake,...
. Water levels in Lake Riñihue rose more than 20 meters, raising the danger of a catastrophic break and of destroying everything downriver. Government authorities drew plans for evacuating the city, but many people left on their own. Danger to the city was reduced after a large team of workers opened a drainage channel in the landslide; water levels of the lake slowly returned to normal levels. There is evidence that a similar landslide and earthquake happened in 1575.
The 1973 Chilean coup d'etat and the military's actions that followed brought dozens of detainees to Valdivia apart from imposing a nation wide curfew
Curfew
A curfew is an order specifying a time after which certain regulations apply. Examples:# An order by a government for certain persons to return home daily before a certain time...
. In October a group of 12 young men, among them José Gregorio Liendo
José Gregorio Liendo
José Gregorio Liendo Vera , also known as compañero Pepe, comandante Pepe or loco Pepe was a Chilean political activist and member of the Revolutionary Left Movement who participated in the land occupations of 1970s in Neltume and led the MIR-MCR attack on the police station of Neltume on...
, were brought from the Complejo Forestal y Maderero Panguipulli
Complejo Forestal y Maderero Panguipulli
200px|thumb|right|Sustainable [[forest management]] carried out by Complejo Panguipulli has contributed to the preservation of the forested landscape around [[Neltume]], one of the principal sawmill towns....
in the Andes to be executed in Valdivia by firing squad due to alleged participation in the assault on Neltume police station and "guerrilla activities".
After the Great Chilean Earthquake
Great Chilean Earthquake
The 1960 Valdivia earthquake or Great Chilean Earthquake of Sunday, 22 May 1960 is to date the most powerful earthquake ever recorded on Earth, rating 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale...
Valdivia's economy and political status declined. Much of the city was destroyed and many inhabitants left. By 1974, the military junta reorganized the political divisions of Chile and declared Valdivia a province of the Los Lagos Region
Los Lagos Region
Los Lagos Region is one of Chile's 15 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé, Llanquihue, Osorno and Palena. The region contains the country's second largest island, Chiloé, and the second largest lake, Llanquihue.Its capital is Puerto Montt;...
with Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region. The commune spans an area of and had a population of 175,938 in 2002. It is located 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago...
as the regional capital. Many Valdivians resented the decision, and felt theirs should have been the legitimate regional capital—while Valdivia was founded in 1552, and had resisted pirate attacks, hostile natives
Arauco War
The Arauco War was a conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people in what is now the Araucanía and Biobío regions of modern Chile...
and several earthquakes, Puerto Montt was a relatively new city founded only in 1853 (three hundred and one years later).
Since the liberalization of the economy in Chile in the 1980s the forestry sector in Valdivia boomed, first by exporting wood chips to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
from Corral and then by producing woodpulp in Mariquina (50 km northeast of Valdivia). This led to deforestation and substitution of native Valdivian temperate rainforests to plant pines and eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...
, but also created new jobs for people with limited education. Valdivia also benefitted from the development of salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
aquaculture
Aquaculture
Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the...
in the 90s, but to a much lesser extent than places such as Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region. The commune spans an area of and had a population of 175,938 in 2002. It is located 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago...
and Chiloé.
Culture
Valdivian Fort System
The Fort System of Valdivia are a series of Spanish colonial fortifications at Corral Bay, Valdivia and Cruces River established to protect the city of Valdivia, in southern Chile. During the period of Spanish rule , it was one of the biggest systems of fortification in the Americas. It was also a...
and the German-style wood houses. The governments of Spain and Germany currently maintain honorary consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
ates in Valdivia. The city is commonly seen as a tourist magnet in Chile, and sometimes described as La Perla del Sur (The Pearl of the South) and as La ciudad mas linda de Chile (Chile's most beautiful city).
Every year during the summer months of January and February the municipality organizes many free cultural events along the river site, such as concerts, sporting events, and other entertainment. To mark and celebrate the end of the touristic summer months, half way through February all entertainment reaches its climax with the celebration of noche de Valdivia (Valdivian night). During this night many local groups and communities present themselves on boats during a night parade over the river. Every boat has its own theme related with one theme of that year. At the end a jury picks the winners in different categories. The parade is by tradition started by a boat which presents la reina de los ríos.
In recent years Valdivians have showed an increasing interest in nature and ecotourism
Ecotourism
Ecotourism is a form of tourism visiting fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas, intended as a low impact and often small scale alternative to standard commercial tourism...
. An example of this was the formation of Acción por los Cisnes an ecologist group formed to protect black-necked swans and the natural environment that surrounds the city, particularly wetlands created or expanded by the Great Chilean Earthquake
Great Chilean Earthquake
The 1960 Valdivia earthquake or Great Chilean Earthquake of Sunday, 22 May 1960 is to date the most powerful earthquake ever recorded on Earth, rating 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale...
.
With the founding of Universidad Austral
Universidad Austral
Universidad Austral may refer to:*Universidad Austral *Universidad Austral de Chile...
in 1954 and the arrival of the CECS
Centro de Estudios Científicos
Centro de Estudios Científicos also known by its acronym CECS is a private, non-profit corporation based in Valdivia, Chile, devoted to the development, promotion and diffusion of scientific research. CECs research areas include biophysics, molecular physiology, theoretical physics, glaciology and...
research center, Valdivia is now considered a major research center in Chile, particularly in areas related to nature such a glaciology
Glaciology
Glaciology Glaciology Glaciology (from Middle French dialect (Franco-Provençal): glace, "ice"; or Latin: glacies, "frost, ice"; and Greek: λόγος, logos, "speech" lit...
and ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
.
The Great Chilean Earthquake
Great Chilean Earthquake
The 1960 Valdivia earthquake or Great Chilean Earthquake of Sunday, 22 May 1960 is to date the most powerful earthquake ever recorded on Earth, rating 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale...
and the national government's creation of the Los Lagos Region
Los Lagos Region
Los Lagos Region is one of Chile's 15 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé, Llanquihue, Osorno and Palena. The region contains the country's second largest island, Chiloé, and the second largest lake, Llanquihue.Its capital is Puerto Montt;...
were difficult for Valdivian society. Valdivians resented to be punished first by a major earthquake and then by being placed under the administration of what they perceived to be a less-deserving city, Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region. The commune spans an area of and had a population of 175,938 in 2002. It is located 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago...
. The recent creation of a new, smaller, but more independent region (Los Ríos), with Valdivia as its capital, reduced the previous stigma.
Spanish colonial influences
During much of the colonial period, Valdivia was essentially a military camp, a walled city surrounded by hostile natives. The coastal defenses and their garrisons made up a large part of the population. After several fires and earthquakes, nearly all buildings from this period were destroyed, with the exception of the military defenses. Valdivia's best known historical landmarks are now the two towers which were part of a former city wall, built by the Spaniards to defend the city, known as Los Torreones. Many of Valdivia's oldest families have their roots in PeruPeru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
as Valdivia historically depended on the Viceroyalty of Peru
Viceroyalty of Peru
Created in 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was a Spanish colonial administrative district that originally contained most of Spanish-ruled South America, governed from the capital of Lima...
.
German influences
Since the first Germans migrated to Valdivia in the mid-1840s, German cultural influence has been visible in the city. Germans in Valdivia settled mostly in the Isla TejaIsla Teja
Teja island is an island in the city of Valdivia, Chile surrounded by three rivers: Cau-Cau river to the north, Cruces river to the west and Valdivia river to the sout east...
and Collico suburban areas. Until the building of Pedro de Valdivia Bridge
Pedro de Valdivia Bridge
Pedro de Valdivia Bridge is an arch bridge spanning Valdivia River, that separates downtown Valdivia from Isla Teja island a residential area.Together with Río Cruces Bridge it allows connection from Valdivia to the coastal town Niebla....
, inhabitants of Isla Teja
Isla Teja
Teja island is an island in the city of Valdivia, Chile surrounded by three rivers: Cau-Cau river to the north, Cruces river to the west and Valdivia river to the sout east...
lived isolated from the city, where it was common that children first learned to speak German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
before Spanish. Nowadays the German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
is preserved by the Instituto Alemán Carlos Anwandter
Instituto Alemán Carlos Anwandter
Instituto Alemán Carlos Anwandter also known as Colegio Alemán de Valdivia or Deutsche Schule Valvivia is a private school, in Valdivia, Chile . The school was originally founded in 1858 by Carlos Anwandter to serve the German community in Isla Teja...
one of Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
's oldest German schools. German descendants also form Valdivia's oldest fire station Germania, located in Isla Teja.
German immigrants and their descendants formed their social club Club Alemán, which after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
changed names to Club la Unión. German workers once had their own club simply called El Alemán (The German).
Valdivia also hosts Bierfest Valdivia, a celebration that could be described as a small, regional Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest, or Wiesn, is a 16–18 day beer festival held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, running from late September to the first weekend in October. It is one of the most famous events in Germany and is the world's largest fair, with more than 5 million people attending every year. The...
, despite being celebrated in late January or February of every year (during the local summer, when there is the largest influx of tourists). The main sponsor and organizer is Kunstmann
Kunstmann
Kunstmann is a Chilean beer produced in Torobayo, Valdivia. The production begun when the German-Chilean family Kunstmann started to brew for personal use in the 1960s, after Valdivia's main brewery Anwandter was destroyed by the 1960 Valdivia earthquake...
, a local beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
company, founded by German nationals, but since bought out by the largest beer and beverages company in Chile (CCU).
Demography
According to the 2002 censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of the National Statistics Institute
National Statistics Institute (Chile)
The National Statistics Institute of Chile is a state-run organization of the Government of Chile, created in the second half of the 19th century and tasked with performing a general census of population and housing, then collecting, producing and publishing official demographic statistics of...
, the commune of Valdivia spans an area of 1015.6 sqkm and has 140,559 inhabitants (68,510 men and 72,049 women). Of these, 129,952 (92.5%) lived in urban area
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
s and 10,607 (7.5%) in rural areas. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 15.1% (18,391 persons).
The city of Valdivia spans 42.39 sqkm had a population of 127,750 and 35,217 homes, giving it a population density of 3013.7 PD/sqkm. The commune is divided into 19 census districts with one recognized town, Niebla, with an area of 1.55 sqkm, population of 2,202 (in 1,169 homes) and population density of 1420.6 PD/sqkm.
Geography
The geography of the Valdivia area consists of wetlands and alluvial terraces. Several rivers, such as Cau-CauCau-Cau River
Cau-Cau River is minor river in the city of Valdivia, southern Chile. Cau-Cau River acts as a regulating channel between Cruces River and Calle-Calle River forming the Isla Teja island in front of the city centre. It confluence with Calle-Calle River marks the beginning of Valdivia River....
, Calle-Calle
Calle-Calle River
Calle-Calle River also called Gudalafquén in Mapudungun, is a river in Valdivia Province, southern Chile. It drains waters from the San Pedro River to the Valdivia River, which in turn flows into Corral Bay on the Pacific Ocean.The Calle-Calle is the only river in Chile that is considered...
and Cruces
Cruces River
The Cruces River is a river near Valdivia, Chile. Río Cruces originates from hills near the Villarica volcano and flows then in south-west direction. The southern and final part of the river follows the Valdivian Coastal Range. At the latitude of Valdivia it is crossed by Río Cruces Bridge near...
joins near the city forming the larger Valdivia River
Valdivia River
The Valdivia River or Río Valdivia, as it is known locally, is a major river in southern Chile. It is the continuation of the Calle-Calle River, from the point where it meets the Cau-Cau River in the city of Valdivia. The Valdivia river ends in Corral Bay, on the Pacific coast. Other tributaries...
. Valdivia River in turn empties to Corral Bay
Corral Bay
Corral Bay is a bay in the mouth of the Valdivia River, southern Chile. Its main towns are Corral and Niebla. The mouth of the bay is between Juan Latorre point and Morro Gonzalo, with a width of 5.5 km. All the year the bay is transited by merchant, transport and fish boats...
in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
just some 15 km west of Valdivia. This river network made Valdivia a trade center even since Pre-Hispanic times. The city itself was built on a riverine terrace but expanded later over adjacent wetlands. Nowadays the city is virtually surrounded by hills by all sides except north where Valdivia's lowlands connect to the flatlands of San José de la Mariquina. The hilly areas around Valdivia are covered with forest, some of which correspond to planted exotic species such as Douglas-fir
Douglas-fir
Douglas-fir is one of the English common names for evergreen coniferous trees of the genus Pseudotsuga in the family Pinaceae. Other common names include Douglas tree, and Oregon pine. There are five species, two in western North America, one in Mexico, and two in eastern Asia...
, Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus globulus
Eucalyptus globulus
The Tasmanian Blue Gum, Southern Blue Gum or Blue Gum, is an evergreen tree, one of the most widely cultivated trees native to Australia. They typically grow from 30 to 55 m tall. The tallest currently known specimen in Tasmania is 90.7 m tall...
. Other areas of forest are used for conservation and recreational purposes although some parts the forest have given place to new urbanizations.
Geology
Pelite
Pelite is old and currently not widely used field terminology for a clayey fine-grained clastic sediment or sedimentary rock, i.e. mud or mudstone. It is equivalent to the Latin-derived term lutite. More commonly, metamorphic geologists currently use pelite for a metamorphosed fine-grained...
schist
Schist
The schists constitute a group of medium-grade metamorphic rocks, chiefly notable for the preponderance of lamellar minerals such as micas, chlorite, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others. Quartz often occurs in drawn-out grains to such an extent that a particular form called quartz schist is...
s, mica
Mica
The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in chemical composition...
ceous slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
s, metagreywacke
Greywacke
Greywacke or Graywacke is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or lithic fragments set in a compact, clay-fine matrix. It is a texturally immature sedimentary rock generally found...
s and oceanic type mafic
Mafic
Mafic is an adjective describing a silicate mineral or rock that is rich in magnesium and iron; the term is a portmanteau of the words "magnesium" and "ferric". Most mafic minerals are dark in color and the relative density is greater than 3. Common rock-forming mafic minerals include olivine,...
metavolcanics. The schist, slates and greywackes originated from sedimentation
Sedimentation
Sedimentation is the tendency for particles in suspension to settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained, and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the forces acting on them: these forces can be due to gravity, centrifugal acceleration...
, probably above the oceanic crust
Oceanic crust
Oceanic crust is the part of Earth's lithosphere that surfaces in the ocean basins. Oceanic crust is primarily composed of mafic rocks, or sima, which is rich in iron and magnesium...
of a passive continental margin
Continental margin
The continental margin is the zone of the ocean floor that separates the thin oceanic crust from thick continental crust. Continental margins constitute about 28% of the oceanic area....
for more than 400 mya. As part of the subduction zone in western Gondwana
Gondwana
In paleogeography, Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland, was the southernmost of two supercontinents that later became parts of the Pangaea supercontinent. It existed from approximately 510 to 180 million years ago . Gondwana is believed to have sutured between ca. 570 and 510 Mya,...
and later South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
the sediments become folded
Fold (geology)
The term fold is used in geology when one or a stack of originally flat and planar surfaces, such as sedimentary strata, are bent or curved as a result of permanent deformation. Synsedimentary folds are those due to slumping of sedimentary material before it is lithified. Folds in rocks vary in...
and faulted in a forearc
Forearc
A forearc or forarc, also called arc-trench gap is a depression in the sea floor located between a subduction zone and an associated volcanic arc. It is typically filled with sediments from the adjacent landmass and the island arc in addition to trapped oceanic crustal material...
wedge
Wedge
Wedge may refer to:Mathematics:* Triangular prism, a parallel triangle wedge* Wedge , a polyhedral solid defined by two triangles and three trapezoid faces* Wedge product, a mathematical term, named for the ∧ operator symbol used...
. While being subducted in an ancient Peru-Chile Trench
Peru-Chile Trench
The Peru-Chile Trench, also known as the Atacama Trench, is an oceanic trench in the eastern Pacific Ocean, about 160 kilometres off the coast of Peru and Chile...
they underwent medium-grade metamorphism after a combination of low temperature and high pressure
Pressure
Pressure is the force per unit area applied in a direction perpendicular to the surface of an object. Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to the local atmospheric or ambient pressure.- Definition :...
. Along with sedimentary rocks parts of the basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
ic ocean crust were also deformed. These rocks emerged to the wedge surface later by buoyancy
Buoyancy
In physics, buoyancy is a force exerted by a fluid that opposes an object's weight. In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of the overlying fluid. Thus a column of fluid, or an object submerged in the fluid, experiences greater pressure at the bottom of the...
and erosion of overlying material. They constitutes now the Bahía Mansa Metamorphic Complex
Bahía Mansa Metamorphic Complex
The Bahía Mansa Metamorphic Complex or BMMC is a group of metamorphic geologic formations of the Chilean Coast Range in southern Chile. It consists mainly in pelitic schists, metagreywackes and oceanic type mafic metavolcanics....
which collided or accrecented to South America in Early Paleozoic.
After the amalgamation
Amalgamation (politics)
A merger or amalgamation in a political or administrative sense is the combination of two or more political or administrative entities such as municipalities , counties, districts, etc. into a single entity. This term is used when the process occurs within a sovereign entity...
of Gondwana and Laurentia
Laurentia
Laurentia is a large area of continental craton, which forms the ancient geological core of the North American continent...
into Pangea, the subduction at the western edge of the continent ceased for a brief period. With the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean in the Mesozoic as background, the a subduction zone appeared once more at the western margin together with its associated orogeny and volcanic activity forming the Andes.
In the Tertiary
Tertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
the Intermediate Depression sunk as a graben
Graben
In geology, a graben is a depressed block of land bordered by parallel faults. Graben is German for ditch. Graben is used for both the singular and plural....
and remained large periods below sea level together with the Valdivian Coast Range. The coast range as we know it today have resulted from the uplifting above sea level of the Bahía Mansa Metamorphic Complex
Bahía Mansa Metamorphic Complex
The Bahía Mansa Metamorphic Complex or BMMC is a group of metamorphic geologic formations of the Chilean Coast Range in southern Chile. It consists mainly in pelitic schists, metagreywackes and oceanic type mafic metavolcanics....
, a forearc wedge
Accretionary wedge
An accretionary wedge or accretionary prism is formed from sediments that are accreted onto the non-subducting tectonic plate at a convergent plate boundary...
, after it had been separated from the Andes by the Intermediate Depression.
A tectonically and eustatically stable period during the Oligocene
Oligocene
The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...
and Early Miocene
Miocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
allowed erosion to create deep valleys in the Coast Range and peat swamps at what is now the estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
of the Valdivia basin. About 23.5 million years ago this stable period was interrupted by a mayor volcanic eruption and 23 mya ago an increase in convergence rate at the Peru-Chile Trench
Peru-Chile Trench
The Peru-Chile Trench, also known as the Atacama Trench, is an oceanic trench in the eastern Pacific Ocean, about 160 kilometres off the coast of Peru and Chile...
caused an uplift of the landscape and renewed erosion. However basin subsidence
Subsidence
Subsidence is the motion of a surface as it shifts downward relative to a datum such as sea-level. The opposite of subsidence is uplift, which results in an increase in elevation...
and a marine transgression
Transgression
Transgression may be:*a Biblical transgression, violation of God's ten commandments; sin *a legal transgression, a crime usually created by a social or economic boundary*a social transgression, violating a norm...
formed deep embayments, tidal flats, bayhead deltas and beaches.
Climate
Valdivia has a temperate rainy climate with mediterraneanMediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
influences. In short Valdivia features a Marine west coast climate, an oceanic climate
Oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...
with a distinct drying trend during the summer. A similar climate is found in the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
region of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. The natural vegetation is the Valdivian temperate rainforests.
During the summer months (December, January and February) the average temperature is about 17 °C, while in winter the temperature descends to 9 °C. The annual average temperature for Los Ríos Region
Los Ríos Region
The XIV Los Ríos Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is Valdivia. Pop. 356,396 . It began to operate as region on October 2, 2007. It was created by subdividing the Los Lagos Region in southern Chile...
is 11 °C, while the mean temperature amplitude is 8.8 °C and the daily is 11 °C. Average annual precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
is 2,593 mm, distributed through the year, but primarily between March and October. Hail occurs with some frequency during winter, but snow falls rarely. The last times it snowed in Valdivia were in July 2007 and in August 1995 during the so-called Terremoto Blanco
White Earthquake
thumb|400px|Map of Chile showing communes in state of catastrophe during the White Earthquake in red. Communes in pink were declared zones of "agrarian emergency"...
(Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
for White Earthquake). The Seven Lakes
Seven Lakes (Chile)
thumb|250px|right|The Seven Lakes areaThe Seven Lakes are a group of seven lakes form part of the same drainage basin, that starts in the Lácar Lake and ends in Corral Bay....
in the interior help to keep an average relative humidity of 80% for the region as whole and there are no months with less than 75% average humidity. The precipitation is generated by frontal systems that cross the zone, which produce cloudiness and few clear days. The leeward effect of the Valdivian Coast Range is minimal due to its low height (715 m at Cerro Oncol
Cerro Oncol
Cerro Oncol is mountain located in the north of the Valdivian Coast Range, Chile. With its 715 m it is the highest peak of the Chilean Coast Range between Nahuelbuta Range and Corral Bay. Cerro Oncol and its surroundings are located inside Oncol Park....
) and the gap in the range at Valdivia River
Valdivia River
The Valdivia River or Río Valdivia, as it is known locally, is a major river in southern Chile. It is the continuation of the Calle-Calle River, from the point where it meets the Cau-Cau River in the city of Valdivia. The Valdivia river ends in Corral Bay, on the Pacific coast. Other tributaries...
's outflow to the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. Recent climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
have caused precipitations to drop in Araucanía
Araucanía Region
The IX Araucanía Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions and comprises two provinces: Malleco in the north and Cautín in the south....
, Los Ríos
Los Ríos Region
The XIV Los Ríos Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is Valdivia. Pop. 356,396 . It began to operate as region on October 2, 2007. It was created by subdividing the Los Lagos Region in southern Chile...
and Los Lagos Region
Los Lagos Region
Los Lagos Region is one of Chile's 15 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé, Llanquihue, Osorno and Palena. The region contains the country's second largest island, Chiloé, and the second largest lake, Llanquihue.Its capital is Puerto Montt;...
s during the period from 1961 to 2000 with the highest decrease, of -15 mm a−1, being registered around Valdivia.
Government and politics
The commune of Valdivia is a third-level administrative division of Chile governed by a directly elected mayorMayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
(alcalde
Alcalde
Alcalde , or Alcalde ordinario, is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An alcalde was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian cabildo and judge of first instance of a town...
) and a municipal council
Municipal council
A municipal council is the local government of a municipality. Specifically the term can refer to the institutions of various countries that can be translated by this term...
(consejales). The city's current mayor is Bernardo Berger Fett, a member of the right-wing National Renewal Party
National Renewal (Chile)
National Renewal , is a liberal conservative political party belonging to the Chilean right-wing political coalition Coalition for Change in conjunction with the Independent Democratic Union and the Chile First movement...
.
Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Valdivia is represented in the Chamber of Deputies
Chamber of Deputies of Chile
The Chamber of Deputies of the Republic of Chile 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....
by Alfonso De Urresti (PS
Socialist Party of Chile
The Socialist Party of Chile is a political party, that is part of the center-left Coalition of Parties for Democracy coalition. Its historical leader was the late President of Chile Salvador Allende Gossens, who was deposed by General Pinochet in 1973...
) and Roberto Delmastro (RN) as part of the 53rd electoral district, (together with Lanco
Lanco
Lanco is a city and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Lanco. It is located in Valdivia Province in Los Ríos Region, about northeast of Valdivia close to Cruces River.-Demographics:...
, Mariquina, Máfil
Máfil
Máfil is a town and commune of the Valdivia Province, Los Ríos Region in southern Chile, about 30 km northeast of Valdivia...
and Corral). The commune is represented in the Senate
Senate of Chile
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.-Composition:...
by Andrés Allamand
Andrés Allamand
Andrés Allamand Zavala , a Chilean politician, is the founder and one of the past leaders of Renovación Nacional, currently in power. He is of French, and Basque descent. On January 14, 2011 he was named Minister of Defense by president Sebastián Piñera. He was sworn in on January 16,...
(founder of National Renewal Party) and former president Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
Eduardo Alfredo Juan Bernardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle is a Chilean politician and civil engineer who was President of Chile from 1994 to 2000. He is currently Senator for Los Ríos and was President of the Senate from 2006 to 2008. He attempted a comeback as the candidate of the ruling Concertación...
(PDC
Christian Democratic Party
Christian democratic parties are those political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social teaching, and it continues to be influential in Europe and...
) as part of the 16th senatorial constituency (Los Ríos Region). Neither senator is native to Validivia.
The creation of Los Ríos Region
Los Ríos Region
The XIV Los Ríos Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is Valdivia. Pop. 356,396 . It began to operate as region on October 2, 2007. It was created by subdividing the Los Lagos Region in southern Chile...
and environmental
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
issues have dominated the politic scene of Valdivia in recent years. The communist lawyer Wladimir Riesco headed the legal actions against pulp mill enterprise CELCO
Celco
Celco is a CRT film recorder manufacturing company. The company has developed xCRT advanced imaging technology that every Celco's recorders are using....
after the deaths of Black-necked Swan
Black-necked Swan
The Black-necked Swan is the largest waterfowl native to South America. Males are and weigh 4.5-6.7 kg ; females are and weigh 3.5-4.4 kg . The wingspan ranges from . The body plumage is white with a black neck, head and greyish bill. It has a red knob near the base of the bill and...
s in Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary
Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary
Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary is protected wetland in Cruces River about north of Valdivia, Chile. The sanctuary is named after the German politician Carlos Anwandter who settled in Valdivia during the 1850s...
in 2004.
Ecological action
In response to the alleged contamination of Cruces River by the CelcoCelulosa Arauco y Constitución
Celulosa Arauco y Constitución is a Chilean wood pulp, engineered wood and forestry company controlled by Anacleto Angelini's economic group; Empresas Copec. As of 2006, CELCO/ARAUCO has five pulp mills in Chile and one in Argentina...
cellulose pulp mill, a group of citizens formed the Accion por los Cisnes (Action for the Swans) ecology group. Action for the Swans attracted the attention of the national newspapers and succeeded in temporarily closing down Valdivia Pulp Mill
Valdivia Pulp Mill
The Valdivia Pulp Mill or Planta Valdivia is a pulp mill and biomass-fueled electrical generating station in San José de la Mariquina, Los Ríos Region, Chile. Although the main activity is wood pulp production it generates 61 MW of electricity from the burning of volatiles and black liquor...
through a court order.
Economy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
, naval construction (Asenav
Asenav
Asenav is a Chilean ship building company, based in Santiago with their main shipyards located in southern Chile in the middle of the city of Valdivia, some 15 km from the Bay of Corral at the Pacific coast...
, Alwoplast), aquaculture
Aquaculture
Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the...
, food processing, and forestry-related activities (harvesting and processing of wood from nearby plantations of eucalyptus
Eucalyptus globulus
The Tasmanian Blue Gum, Southern Blue Gum or Blue Gum, is an evergreen tree, one of the most widely cultivated trees native to Australia. They typically grow from 30 to 55 m tall. The tallest currently known specimen in Tasmania is 90.7 m tall...
and Douglas-fir
Douglas-fir
Douglas-fir is one of the English common names for evergreen coniferous trees of the genus Pseudotsuga in the family Pinaceae. Other common names include Douglas tree, and Oregon pine. There are five species, two in western North America, one in Mexico, and two in eastern Asia...
s). Large enterprises such as CELCO
Celco
Celco is a CRT film recorder manufacturing company. The company has developed xCRT advanced imaging technology that every Celco's recorders are using....
, Bomasil, and Louisiana-Pacific
Louisiana-Pacific
Louisiana-Pacific Corporation , commonly known as "LP", is a United States building materials manufacturer. It was founded in 1973 and is currently based in Nashville, Tennessee. LP pioneered the U.S. production of oriented strand board panels. Today, LP is the world’s largest producer of OSB, and...
have established wood processing factories near Valdivia. Specialty beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
(Kunstmann
Kunstmann
Kunstmann is a Chilean beer produced in Torobayo, Valdivia. The production begun when the German-Chilean family Kunstmann started to brew for personal use in the 1960s, after Valdivia's main brewery Anwandter was destroyed by the 1960 Valdivia earthquake...
) and chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
(Entrelagos
Entrelagos
Entrelagos is a chocolate and confectionery company based in Valdivia, Chile where it runs an exclusive cafe....
) production are also part of the Valdivian economy.http://www.gobiernodechile.cl/canal_regional/datos_geograficos.asp?veregion=14#6
Tourism during the summer months (December, January, February) is a major income source for Valdivias economy. Valdivia is an old tourist destination in Chile and is most valued for its natural beauty and culture. In 1917 "Valdivian Week" (Spanish: Semana Valdiviana) was celebrated for the first time, and the city began to distinguish itself as a tourism centre in Chile.
Universities and colleges
Valdivia is home to several public and private schoolSchool
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s and universities
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
. The largest and oldest university is the Universidad Austral de Chile
Universidad Austral de Chile
Southern University of Chile is a research university in Chile based in Valdivia although it has some institutions and careers in Puerto Montt. Founded by decree on 7 September 1954 it is one of the eight original Chilean Traditional Universities...
(UACh) that was founded by decree in 1954 as one of Chile's seven original Chilean Traditional Universities
Chilean Traditional Universities
In Chile, the term universidades tradicionales is used to denote the group of universities founded before the 1980s. This term usually includes derivative universities, which are not really traditional but were derived from traditional ones...
. Its main campus is located in Isla Teja
Isla Teja
Teja island is an island in the city of Valdivia, Chile surrounded by three rivers: Cau-Cau river to the north, Cruces river to the west and Valdivia river to the sout east...
but it has other minor campus and properties spread through the city and Valdivia Province
Valdivia Province
Valdivia Province is one of two provinces of the southern Chilean region of Los Ríos . The provincial capital is Valdivia. Located in the province are two important rivers, the Calle-Calle / Valdivia River and the Cruces River.It is part of Northern Patagonia and its wild virgin forest embrace the...
. Since the liberalization of higher education in Chile in the 80s other universities have established campuses in Valdivia, including Universidad Arturo Prat
Universidad Arturo Prat
Universidad Arturo Prat is a university in Chile. It is a derivative university part of the Chilean Traditional Universities.This university was created in 1981 from the former campus of the University of Chile in Iquique....
, Universidad San Sebastián
Universidad San Sebastián
Saint Sebastian University is a private Chilean university with its headquarters located in Concepción. The university also has faculties in Santiago, Valdivia, Osorno and Puerto Montt. It was founded in 1989, and received formal state recognition as a university in 2001.-External links:*...
, Universidad Santo Tomas and Universidad de Los Lagos
Universidad de Los Lagos
The University of Los Lagos is a university in Chile. It is a derivative university part of the Chilean Traditional Universities. It currently operates two campuses: the main campus in Osorno, and another in Valdivia and Puerto Montt, the regional capital....
.
Schools
Like in the rest of Chile, most of Valdivia's best schools are private. Instituto Alemán Carlos AnwandterInstituto Alemán Carlos Anwandter
Instituto Alemán Carlos Anwandter also known as Colegio Alemán de Valdivia or Deutsche Schule Valvivia is a private school, in Valdivia, Chile . The school was originally founded in 1858 by Carlos Anwandter to serve the German community in Isla Teja...
(Deutsche Schule Valdivia) founded in 1858 is Chile's second oldest German school after the Instituto Alemán de Osorno (1854). Other notable private schools are Windsor School
Windsor School, Chile
Windsor School is a private cooperative school founded in 1959, in Valdivia, Chile. Once bilingual, the school however promotes the study of English language with international exchange programs and an English laboratory. The Windsor School has also football, basketball, hockey, volleyball and...
and Colegio San Luis de Alba. Among public schools Instituto Salesiano de Valdivia, Liceo Rector Armando Robles Rivera and Liceo Comercial have reached good results.
Sports
Facilities for playing football, tennisTennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, rowing
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
, rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, indoors swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, indoors and outdoors basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and some other sports are available throughout the area. Rowing is practised in Valdivia in three clubs: Club Deportivo Phoenix Valdivia, Club Centenario de Remeros and Club Arturo Prat. Valdivian rowers Cristian Yantani and Miguel Cerda
Miguel Cerda
Miguel Cerda is a Chilean rower.- References :* at sports-reference.com...
won the first place in Men's Lightweight Coxless Pair-Oared Shells at the world championship in Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
, 2002.
Club Deportivo Valdivia is Valdivia's main basketball team and plays in Chiles first division, DIMAYOR
División Mayor del Básquetbol de Chile
The División Mayor del Básquetbol de Chile or DIMAYOR is the national professional basketball league in Chile. The league was created in 1979.-Teams participating in 2009:-List of Champions:...
where it won the 2001 season. In 1977 and 2001 Valdivia hosted South Americas Men's Basketball Championship.
The football club Club Deportivo Deportes Valdivia
Deportes Valdivia
Deportes Valdivia is a Chilean Football club, their home town is Valdivia, Chile. They currently play in the fourth level of Chilean football, the Tercera División B.The club were founded on June 5, 1983 and then re-founded on December 19, 2003....
, founded in 2003, plays currently in the Chilean third division.
Roads and bridges
Most of Valdivia lies on the southern side of the ValdiviaValdivia River
The Valdivia River or Río Valdivia, as it is known locally, is a major river in southern Chile. It is the continuation of the Calle-Calle River, from the point where it meets the Cau-Cau River in the city of Valdivia. The Valdivia river ends in Corral Bay, on the Pacific coast. Other tributaries...
and Calle-Calle River
Calle-Calle River
Calle-Calle River also called Gudalafquén in Mapudungun, is a river in Valdivia Province, southern Chile. It drains waters from the San Pedro River to the Valdivia River, which in turn flows into Corral Bay on the Pacific Ocean.The Calle-Calle is the only river in Chile that is considered...
s but other areas of the city such as Isla Teja
Isla Teja
Teja island is an island in the city of Valdivia, Chile surrounded by three rivers: Cau-Cau river to the north, Cruces river to the west and Valdivia river to the sout east...
and Las Animas are connected by bridges. The main accesses to the city are Calle-Calle Bridge
Calle-Calle Bridge
Calle-Calle Bridge is an arch bridge spanning Calle-Calle River, that separates downtown Valdivia from Las Animas a residential area. It allows connection from Valdivia to the airport of Pichoy and to the Pan American Highway....
from the north and a southern access. Both accesses connect the city with the Pan-American Highway
Pan-American Highway
The Pan-American Highway is a network of roads measuring about in total length. Except for an rainforest break, called the Darién Gap, the road links the mainland nations of the Americas in a connected highway system. According to Guinness World Records, the Pan-American Highway is the world's...
and run through forested areas and wetlands.
Calle-Calle Bridge, the first bridge built, connects the city with Las Animas and forms the northern highway access to the city. Pedro de Valdivia Bridge
Pedro de Valdivia Bridge
Pedro de Valdivia Bridge is an arch bridge spanning Valdivia River, that separates downtown Valdivia from Isla Teja island a residential area.Together with Río Cruces Bridge it allows connection from Valdivia to the coastal town Niebla....
was built in 1954 and connects Isla Teja
Isla Teja
Teja island is an island in the city of Valdivia, Chile surrounded by three rivers: Cau-Cau river to the north, Cruces river to the west and Valdivia river to the sout east...
island, where many German immigrants lived. During the Great Chilean Earthquake only the minor Caucau Bridge (Las Animas-Isla Teja) was destroyed, while all other bridges were repaired and are still in use. In 1987 Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
opened Río Cruces Bridge
Río Cruces Bridge
Río Cruces Bridge is a triangular bridge spanning Cruces River that unites Isla Teja from Torobayo, a sub-urban area of Valdivia. Together with Pedro de Valdivia Bridge it allows connection from Valdivia to the coastal town Niebla. Before the opening of Río Cruces Bridge the main access to Niebla...
making the coastal town of Niebla
Niebla, Chile
Niebla is a coastal Chilean town close to the city of Valdivia, Valdivia Province, Los Lagos Region. Niebla is located on the northern edge, at the mouth of the Valdivia River, across from Corral. Niebla's beach and folk market are popular tourist destinations during the summer, together with the...
accessible by road, and also Torobayo
Torobayo
Torobayo is a suburb of Valdivia, Chile. It lies west of Isla Teja and connects to the city through Río Cruces Bridge. The Kunstmann beer factory and restaurant list within Torobayo and produces an ale beer named Torobayo Ale....
and Punucapa
Punucapa
Punucapa is a hamlet of pre-Hispanic origin in Los Ríos Region, Chile. Its isolated location by the Cruces River and the Valdivian Coastal Range has make the village an ecotourism attraction. The wetlands of the river is the home to thousands of birds; the Black-necked Swan is the most emblematic...
. Calle-Calle Bridge, the main access to the city was enlarged in the 1990s.
Waterways
Until highway bridges were built, Valdivia's economy and citizenry depended upon boat traffic on the surrounding rivers. Nowadays the rivers are used mainly by tourist boats and by commercial ships built or repaired in AsenavAsenav
Asenav is a Chilean ship building company, based in Santiago with their main shipyards located in southern Chile in the middle of the city of Valdivia, some 15 km from the Bay of Corral at the Pacific coast...
, one of Chile's most important shipyard companies. Fishing boats travel inland from the coast to sell fish at the Feria Fluvial market. Only one ferry operation remains significant, the Niebla
Niebla, Chile
Niebla is a coastal Chilean town close to the city of Valdivia, Valdivia Province, Los Lagos Region. Niebla is located on the northern edge, at the mouth of the Valdivia River, across from Corral. Niebla's beach and folk market are popular tourist destinations during the summer, together with the...
-Corral line, as is it much shorter to reach Corral by ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
than following a circuitous road. Some of the locations that are regularly reached by tourist boats include Mancera Island
Mancera Island
Mancera Island is a minor island at the mouth of Valdivia River, in southern Chile. It was named after the Spanish viceroy of Peru Pedro de Toledo, 1st Marquis of Mancera, who fortified the island. The fort was a vital point in the Valdivian Fort System, preventing enemy ships from reaching...
and Punucapa
Punucapa
Punucapa is a hamlet of pre-Hispanic origin in Los Ríos Region, Chile. Its isolated location by the Cruces River and the Valdivian Coastal Range has make the village an ecotourism attraction. The wetlands of the river is the home to thousands of birds; the Black-necked Swan is the most emblematic...
.
Airports
The city is served mainly by Pichoy AirportPichoy Airport
Pichoy Airport is an airport located northeast of Valdivia, a city in the Los Ríos Region of Chile.-Airlines and destinations:-External links:* at Aerodromo.cl...
that lies 32 km northeast of the city following the north entrance road that connects the city with the Pan American Highway. The smaller but much nearer Las Marías Airport
Las Marias Airport
Las Marías Airport is an airport located north of Valdivia, a city in the Los Ríos Region of Chile.The airport operates from sunrise to sunset year round.-External links:* at Aerodromo.cl...
is used primarily by minor airplanes and no airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
s operate there.
Sister cities
| Country | ity | tate / Region | ince |
|---|---|---|---|
 ArgentinaArgentina Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires... |
Neuquén Neuquén, Argentina -Sister cities:Neuquén is sister city, as designated by Sister Cities International with: Knoxville, Tennessee, United States Treviso, Veneto, Italy Valdivia, Chile-External links: - Official website.... |
.svg.png) Neuquén ProvinceNeuquén Province Neuquén is a province of Argentina, located in the west of the country, at the northern end of Patagonia. It borders Mendoza Province to the north, Rio Negro Province to the southeast, and Chile to the west... |
2003 |
 AustraliaAustralia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
Hobart Hobart Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as... |
 TasmaniaTasmania Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart... |
1998 |
 Kingdom of Romania RomaniaRomania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea... |
 Cluj-NapocaCluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth most populous city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest , Budapest and Belgrade... |
 Cluj County Cluj ; is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Cluj-Napoca.-Demographics:In 2007, it had a population of 692,316 and a population density of 104/km².*Romanians – 80%*Hungarians – 17.5%*Roma – 2.5%-Geography:... |
|
 USA |
Mount Pleasant Mount Pleasant, Michigan Mount Pleasant is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Isabella County. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 25,946. The 2008 census estimate places the population at 26,675.... |
 Michigan Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake".... |
|
| USA |
Tacoma Tacoma, Washington Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to... |
Washington |
See also
- Valdivian Coastal ReserveValdivian Coastal ReserveValdivian Coastal Reserve is a natural reserve located in the Cordillera Pelada, in Los Ríos Region of Chile, near Corral. The reserve was formed in 2003 when the WWF, TNC and other local organizations acquired a large area of of which 83% is categorized as Valdivian temperate rainforest and 7.8%...
- Flag of ValdiviaFlag of ValdiviaThe flag of Valdivia is a red saltire on a white field. It is thought to have originated from the Spanish Cross of Burgundy Flag as the city of Valdivia in southern Chile was a very important stronghold of the Spanish Empire. It is virtually identical to the flag of Saint Patrick, although...
- Pilolcura
- Punucapa
Sources
- Francisco Solano Asta-Buruaga y Cienfuegos, Diccionario geográfico de la República de Chile (Geographic dictionary of the Republic of Chile), SEGUNDA EDICIÓN CORREGIDA Y AUMENTADA, NUEVA YORK, D. APPLETON Y COMPAÑÍA, 1899. pg. 859-862 Valdivia - Ciudad
- Brüggen, Juan. Fundamentos de la geología de Chile, Instituto Geográfico Militar 1950.
External links
Ilustre Municipalidad de Valdivia Diario Austral de Valdivia, Valdivian newspaper Geology and geomorphology of Valdivia and Los Ríos Region Museo de Arte Contemporanea (MAC), a modern art museum Museo Fuerte Niebla, Niebla fort's museum Museo Philippi, a museum about the naturalist Rodolfo Armando Philippi La Librería de Valdivia, biggest bookstore in south of Chile Panorámicas de Valdivia en 360º Valdivia Anime related internet forum made in Valdivia- Alwoplast, Valdivian designer/builder of custom catamarans
- Cerveza Kunstmann, local beer maker