Valdivia, Chile
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Valdivia | |||
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| Nickname: "The City of Rivers" | |||
| Motto: Muy Noble y Muy Leal (Very Noble and Very Loyal) | |||
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| Coordinates: | |||
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| Country | Chile | ||
| Region | Los Rios | ||
| Province | Valdivia | ||
| Founded as | Santa María la Blaca de Valdivia | ||
| Founded | 9 February 1552 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Bernardo Berger Fett | ||
| Area | |||
| - City | 1,016 km² (392.3 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 5 m (16.4 ft) | ||
| Population (2002) | |||
| - City | 140,559 | ||
| - Density | 138.3/km² (358.2/sq mi) | ||
| Website: http://www.munivaldivia.cl | |||
Valdivia is a commune and city in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Valdivia, founded by Pedro de Valdivia. It is located where the Calle-Calle, Valdivia and Cau-Cau Rivers join, approximately 15 km east of the coastal town of Corral. The city is in the Los Lagos Region and is the capital of Valdivia Province. Valdivia will be the capital of the newly created Los Ríos Region, after the law comes into effect.
Valdivia has 140,000 inhabitants (Valdivianos) according to the 2002 census. The main economic activities include tourism, paper manufacturing, forestry, metallurgy, and beer production. The city is also the home of the Universidad Austral de Chile, founded in 1954.
The city of Valdivia and the island of Chiloé were the two southernmost enclaves of the Spanish Empire and administratively depended directly from the Viceroy of Peru. 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 also the epicenter (and most damaged city) of the Great Chilean Earthquake of 1960 — the most powerful earthquake in recorded history. 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.
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[edit] History
[edit] Prehispanic times (12,000 B.C.-1553)
According to the archaeological discoveries in Monte Verde, south of Valdivia (closer to Puerto Montt), southern Chile has been populated since 12,000 – 11,800 B.C about a thousand years before the Clovis culture in North America. This could eventually mean that the first humans on America traveled by boat and not crossed a land-bridge across the Bering Strait.
By the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores, Valdivia was inhabited by Huilliches. Huilliche and Mapuche 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, and Valdivia River was called Ainilebu. Ainil seemed to have been an important trade center due to its ease of access to the sea and the interior using the river network of Cruces and Calle-Calle Rivers, both tributaries of Valdivia River. Ainilebu has been described as a "kind of little Venice" as it had large areas of wetlands and canals, all of them drained nowadays. The market in Ainilebu received shellfish and fish from the coast, legumes from Punucapa, and other foods from San José de la Mariquina the richest agricultural zone in Valdivia. The only remains of this ancient trade is the modern Riverside Market (Feria Fluvial) on the banks of the Valdivia River.
[edit] Colony (1554-1810)
The first European to visit the Valdivia estuary was the Genovese captain Juan Bautista Pastene, who officially took possession of it in 1544 in the name of the Spanish king, Carlos I. He named the river after the Extremadurense conqueror and governor of Chile Pedro de Valdivia as Valdivia River.
Pedro de Valdivia received the news about the discovery and later traveled by land to the river described by Pastene, and founded the city of Valdivia in 1552 as Santa María la Blanca de Valdivia. At the time of the founding it was the most Southern European settlement of the world. After Pedro de Valdivia's death, war with the Mapuches, called the War of Arauco, intensified as the Spanish made many attemps to defeat the Mapuche and defend the cities and forts built on their territory.
After the Disaster of Curalaba in 1598 in which the entire Spanish army was defeated and the governor killed by the Mapuches, the Kingdom of Chile was left defenseless. Mapuches proceeded to destroy all the Spanish settlements and forts in their lands in what came to be known as the Destruction of the Seven Cities. On 24 November 1599 Mapuches sacked and destroyed Valdivia. The border of the Spanish Empire shifted north of the Bío-Bío River, while the city of Valdivia remained a Spanish enclave surrounded by native Huilliche territory, and along with 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 became convinced that the city of Valdivia needed to be repopulated. The 13 March of 1602 captain Francisco Hernández Ortiz established a fort in the ruins of the city. On September 24th the 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 in Puerto Inglés while waiting for spring to sail North to Valdivia. Elias Herckman was appointed commander and finally occupied the ruins of Valdivia in 1643. The Dutch did not find the gold mines they expected to find and the hostility of the natives forced them to leave on 28 October, 1643. Later the Spanish decided to again populate Valdivia and fortify it once for all. The Valdivia and Chiloé enclaves were placed directly under the control of the Spanish Crown because of their strategic importance to the Viceroyalty of Peru. Corral, located on the river entrance to Valdivia, became the most fortified bay at the time, with 17 forts.
[edit] Independence and growth (1811-1959)
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, the Irishman Albert Alexander Eagar, led the celebration of what they saw as an affirmation of the legitimacy of the Spanish king. However, Valdivian independentists, such a Camilo Henríquez, perceive the opportunity to gain absolute independence from Spain, organized a coup on 1 November of 1811, and joined other Chilean cities that were already revolting against the old order. Four months after the coup, on 16 March of 1812 a counterrevolutionary coup took control of the city and created a War Council. The War Council decided to break trade relations with mainland 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 in his expedition to liberate Chiloé. Cochrane's attack took the Spanish by surprise, avoiding a direct confrontation with the highly-defended forts at the entrance to Valdivia River.
At the beginning of the Chilean republic, Valdivia was incorporated as one of the eight provinces of Chile. 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, city that had been repopulated in 1796 by his father Ambrosio O'Higgins.
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 focused immigration program under Vicente Pérez Rosales as government agent. Through this program, thousands of Germans settled in the area, incorporating then-modern technology and know-how to develop agriculture and industry. Some of the new immigrants stayed in Valdivia but others were given forested land, which they cut down to turn into farms[1] while native Mapuche and Huilliche) were pushed into reservations.
Valdivia prospered with industries, including shipyards, the Hoffmann Gristmill, the Rudloff shoe factory and many more. The steel mills of Corral were the biggest recorded private investment in Chile at the time, and were the first steel mills in South America. In 1891 Valdivia became a comune according to a law that created that subdivisions in Chile. After that the Malleco Viaduct had been built in 1890 the railroads advanced further south reaching Valdivia in 1895. The first train with passengers arrived in 1899.
The prosperity of Valdivia continued throughout the first half of the 19th Century, on 1917 the first "Valdivian Week" (Spanish: Semana Valdiviana) was celebrated, with that the city started be an earthy tourism centre in Chile, lot of songs named Valdivia and the Calle-Calle River became well known in Chilean popular culture. The Pedro de Valdivia Bridge that crossed the Valdivia River was built in 1939. Valdivia came to be the third most important industrial centre in Chile after the capital Santiago and the main port city, Valparaíso.
[edit] Great Chilean Earthquake and Valdivia in Los Lagos Region (1960-2006)
- Main articles Great Chilean Earthquake, Riñihuazo, Los Ríos Region.
On May 22, 1960, Chile suffered the most powerful earthquake ever registered in modern history, the 9.5 magnitude Great Chilean Earthquake. Valdivia was only 10km away from the epicenter. The earthquake generated devastating tsunamis that affected Japan and Hawaii. A number of Spanish-colonial forts around Valdivia were completely destroyed. Soil subsidence also destroyed buildings, deepened local rivers, and created wetlands of the Río Cruces y Chorocomayo - a new aquatic park north of the city.
After the earthquake large parts of the city flooded, and a landslide near the Tralcan Mount dammed the Riñihue Lake. Because the water levels of the Riñihue rose more than 20 meters, the dam was in danger of breaking and destroying everything down the river. There were plans for evacuating the city, and many people left. All this ended when a large team of workers was able to open a drainage channel in the landslide, which allowed the water levels of the lake to slowly lower to it normal levels. There is evidence that a similar landslide and earthquake happened in 1575.
After the Great Chilean Earthquake Valdivia fell into decline. Much of the city was destroyed and a lot of people left the city. By 1974 when the military junta reorganized the political divisions of Chile they decided that Valdivia was not longer in condition to be a first class administrative territory capital. Because of this, it was declared a province of the Los Lagos Region in which Puerto Montt was the capital. Valdivians resent much this decision, and feel they are the legitimate capital. While Valdivia was founded in 1552, and had resisted pirate attacks, hostile natives and several earthquakes since then, Puerto Montt was a relatively new city founded in 1853 (three hundred and one years later).
[edit] Culture
In tourism offices Valdivia is promoted for its uniqueness. In difference to other cities in Chile, Valdivia have both a colonial past and a history of German colonization. Both epochs leaved visible landmarks such as the forts of Corral Bay and the German wood houses. Valdivia is an old tourism centre in Chile, it is known as La Perla del Sur (The Pearl of the South) and as La ciudad mas linda de Chile (Chiles most beautiful city). In recent years Valdivians have showed an increasing interest in nature and ecotourism. An example of that was the formation of Accion por los Cisnes an ecologist group formed to protect the Swans and the nature around the city. With the founding of Universidad Austral in 1954 and the arrival of CECS research center Valdivia is now on of the main places for scientific research in Chile, specially in the areas related to nature such a Glaciology and Ecology. The Great Chilean Earthquake and the later created Los Lagos Region also left traumatic scars to Valdivia society. Valdivians resented to be doubly punished first by the earthquake and then by being put under the administration of Puerto Montt. This feelings created a movement for regionalism that only recently with the creation of Los Rios Region have been satisfied.
[edit] Spanish colonial influences
During the colonial period life in Valdivia was the more the one of military camp as it was a walled city surrounded by hostile natives. The coastal defenses were even heavier and soldiers made up a large part of the population. After several fires and earthquakes nearly all building from this period disappeared with the exception of the military defenses. Valdivias most know landmarks are now the two towers built by the Spaniards to defend the city, known as Los Torreones.
[edit] German influences
Since the first German migrated to Valdivia in the mid 1850s German cultural influcence have been visible in the city. Until the building of Pedro de Valdivia Bridge people in Isla Teja lived isolated from the city and it was common that children first learned to talk German and then Spanish. Nowadays the German language is preserved by the Instituto Aleman Carlos Andwanter one of Latin Americas oldest German schools.
Valdiva also host the Bierfest Valdivia, that could be described as a small Oktoberfest, despite of being celebrated every year in late January or February. The main sponsor and organizer is Kunstmann Bier, Valdivias biggest beer company, founded like many other industries by Germans.
[edit] Scientific research
The Southern University of Chile (Universidad Austral de Chile), one of eight Chilean state universities, has its main campus in Valdivia. In the last decade Valdivia gained prestige as an important cultural and scientific venue: the Valdivia Film Festival became the most important in Chile, and the Centro de Estudios Científicos relocated to a site near the Calle-Calle River.
[edit] Ecological action
In response to the alleged contamination of Cruces River by the Celco Pulpmill a group of citizens formed the ecologic group Accion por los Cisnes (Action for the Swans). Accion por los Cisnes attracted the atention of the national newspapers and succeeded in temporarily closing down the pulp mill through a court order.
The city is surrounded by many nature reserves and large areas of forest plantations, wetlands and Valdivian temperate rainforest that, together with the numerous rivers of the city, have heightened the residents' awareness of living close to nature.
[edit] Trivia
In addition to being know as the City of Rivers, Valdivia has also been called The pearl of the South, The key of the South seas, Gibraltar of the Pacific, and Chile's most beautiful city.
[edit] Climate and Geography
[edit] Climate
Valdivia has a temperate and oceanic climate. During the summer months (December, January and February) the average temperature is about 17°C, while in winter they it descends to 9°C. The total precipitation is 2593 mm and its distributed all over the year with a mayor concentration between March and December.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily temperature (°C) | 16 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 15 | ||
| Mean total rainfall (mm) | 53 | 56 | 71 | 132 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 246 | 163 | 109 | 74 | 64 | ||
| Source: Weather.co.uk Climate Statistics | ||||||||||||||
[edit] Geography
* Altitude: 5 meters. * Latitude: 39º 48' 00" S * Longitude: 073º 13' 59" W
As a result of the Great Chilean Earthquake Valdivia lost considerable arable land when the surface fell 2 meters creating wetlands and swamps in the surrounding areas.
[edit] Nightlife
Most of Valdivia's night spots are concentrated on Esmeralda Avenue: 691 ("El seis")- popular for the free entrances for females, the Copadissimo Disco-bar, and ("El Copa"). Scanners Discotheque (better known as "La Chaner"), on General Lagos Street, achieved distinction in 2004 when it was proclaimed the capital of the perreo in the Los Lagos Region.[citation needed]
Other places include are the Casona Verde ("El Mambo") which is valued for its alternative style and the sensual Cafe Venus.
[edit] Transport
Most of Valdivia lies in the southern shores of Valdivia and Calle-Calle River 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.
The firs bridge to be built was Calle-Calle Bridge that connects the city with Las Animas and it is the current northern access to the city. Later in 1939 Pedro de Valdivia Bridge was built and Isla Teja island were many German immigrants lived were connected. during the Great Chilean Earthquake only the minor Caucau Bridge (Las Animas-Isla Teja) was destroyed, all other mayor bridges were repaired and are still used. In 1987 Augusto Pinochet opened Río Cruces Bridge and the coastal town of Niebla became accessible, but also Torobayo and Punucapa. In the 1990s Calle-Calle Bridge as the main access to the city was enlarged.
Until the bridges started be built Valdivia had a lot of traffic in the rivers. Nowadays the rivers are used mainly by tourism boats and ships and by the ships built in Asenav one of Chiles most important shipyard companies. Minor fisher boats also sails from the coast to sell fish in the Feria Fluvial market.
The city is served mainly by Pichoi Airport and the smaller Las Marias Airport.
[edit] See also
- Bierfest Valdivia
- Flag of Valdivia
- Pilolcura
- Punucapa
- Ecuatorian Valdivia Culture (Completely unrelated with the city of Valdivia, Chile.)
[edit] External links
- Ilustre Municipalidad de Valdivia (in Spanish)
- Diario Austral de Valdivia, Valdivian newspaper (in Spanish).
- Panorámicas de Valdivia en 360º (in Spanish)
- foro de Anime valdiviano (in Spanish)
[edit] References
- ^ Luis Otero, La Huella del Fuego: Historia de los bosques y cambios en el paisaje del sur de Chile (Valdivia, Editorial Pehuen)
