Chiloé Archipelago
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Chiloé Archipelago (Spanish: Archipiélago de Chiloé) consists of several islands lying off the coast of Chile. It is separed from mainland Chile by Chacao Channel in the north, the Chilotan Sea en the east and Gulf of Corcovado to the southeast. All of the archipelago except Desertores Islands that are part of Palena Province forms the Province of Chiloé. The main island is Chiloé Island (Spanish: Isla Grande de Chiloé).
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[edit] Culture
In part because of its physical isolation from the rest of Chile, Chiloé has a very special architecture and local culture. The Spanish, who arrived in the 16th century, and Jesuit missionaries who followed, constructed hundreds of small wooden churches in an attempt to bring Christianity to a pagan land; the result was a mixing of Catholicism and pagan beliefs. These unique buildings have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
[edit] Architecture
Chilotan architecture is a unique architectural style that is mainly restricted to Chiloe Island and nearby areas. In part because of its physical isolation from the rest of Chile, and access to different materials, Chiloé has a very special architecture that differs a lot from the typical Spanish colonial architecture. The Spanish who arrived in the 16th century, and Jesuit missionaries who followed, constructed hundreds of small wooden churches in an attempt to bring Christianity to a pagan land; the result was a mixing of Catholicism and pagan beliefs. These unique buildings have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Nearly all the houses and buildings in colonial Chiloe were built with wood, and roof shingles were extensively employed. Roof shingles of Fitzroya came to be used as money and called "Real de Alerce". In the late XIX century a lot of palafitos (stilt houses) were built in cities like Castro and Chonchi.
[edit] Mythology
Chiloé have a rich folklore with many mythological animals and spirits (the Caleuche, the Trauco, the Pincoya, the Invunche, etc.). Chilota mythology is based on a mixture of indigenous religions (the Chonos and Huilliches) that live in the Archipelago of Chiloé, and the legends and superstitions brought by the Spanish Conquistadores, who in 1567 began the process of conquest in Chiloé and with it the fusion of elements that would form a separate mythology. Chilota mythology flourished, isolated from other beliefs and myths in Chile, due to the separation of the archipelago from the rest of the Spanish occupation in Chile, when the Mapuches occupied or destroyed by all the Spanish settlements between the Bío-Bío River and the Chacao channel following the disaster of Curalaba in 1598.
According to Chilotan mythology the origin of the archipelago lies in a fierce battle between two serpents, Ten Ten-Vilu (ten="earth", vilu="snake") and Coi Coi-Vilu (Co="water", vilu="snake").
[edit] History
Chiloé's first known inhabitants were the Chonos, a nomadic people. Later the Huilliche (a part of the Mapuche) came from the mainland and settled on the eastern shore, practicing agriculture and fishing.
In 1567 the island was first claimed by Spain, which was exploring and claiming most of South America and many neighbouring islands, and established a settlement at Castro in 1567, which later became the seat of a Jesuit mission, and was capital of the province until the founding of Ancud in 1768.
In 1784 Chiloé Island was made a direct dependency of the colonial viceroyalty of Peru as concequence of the Bourbon reforms, while continental Chile was a captaincy-general within the viceroyalty.
Unlike the central region of Chile where a long war of independence resumed after a Spanish reoccupation, Chiloe never joined the "Patria Vieja" (Old Republic). In December 1817 the island became the last stronghold of Spanish loyalists (together with Valdivia) fleeing from the Chilean mainland. A Chilean expedition led by Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald failed to conquer it. On 15 January 1826, after another unsuccessful attempt in 1824, the Spanish forces surrendered to a military expedition led by Ramon Freire, and the island was fully incorporated into the independent republic of Chile, although Spain did not recognize it until 1844.
The last Spanish Military governors were :
- Mariano Osorio December 1817 - 1818
- Antonio de Quintanilla 1818 - 15 January 1826
Charles Darwin visited Chiloé during the summer of 1834–1835, writing about his impressions of southern Chile in his diaries [1].
During the colonization of Patagonia by Chile and Argentina, a lot of chilotes migrated to the mainland to work in cattle farming.
The cathedral in Ancud was totally destroyed and Castro was badly damaged by the Great Chilean Earthquake of 1960, widely considered to be the most powerful ever recorded. In 1982, the provincial capital, after over 200 years, was returned to Castro.
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