San Juan Bautista, Chile

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The town of San Juan Bautista

San Juan Bautista is the main town in the Juan Fernández Islands. Some sources say it was founded in 1877 while others give an earlier date of 1750. It is located on Cumberland Bay on the centre of the north-east coast of Robinson Crusoe Island.

Although the community maintains a rustic serenity dependent on the spiny lobster trade, residents employ a few vehicles, a satellite internet connection, and many television sets. As of the 2002 census the town had a population of 598 in an area of 0.31 km.

There is a soccer pitch at the northern end of the village; there is a school called Dresden School (source), after the German light cruiser, SMS Dresden, that was sunk here during World War I. Names of the generally unpaved streets in the village include: Larraín Alcalde, Ignacio Carrera Pinto, El Sándalo, Vicente González, Teniente Cortés, La Pólvora, Dresden; a map showing the location of these streets can be seen here.

After the Battle of Rancagua in 1814, the Spanish authorities exiled 42 Chilean criollo independence activists to the island. The exiles, including prominent figures such as Juan Egaña and Manuel de Salas, lived in damp caves, today called Las Cuevas de los Patriotas, above San Juan Bautista.