Chillán

Chillán

Understand St. Bartholomew Cathedral Chillán was home to 175,000 people in 2012. It is an important transportation hub for the surrounding agricultural districts. The air in Chillán is the fourth-most polluted in Chile, after Santiago, Temuco, and Concepción. As in Temuco, the main cause of air pollution in Chillán is the use of wood-burning stoves: about 62% of all households in Chillán use firewood as their main source of heating. History Iglesia de la Virgen del Carmen Founded by the Spanish in 1580 the city persisted despite numerous attacks by Mapuche, Pehuenches and other tribes in war with Spain. Over time Chillán became an important marketplace where Mapuches, Pehuenches, Mestizos and Criollos met. Many goods from Patagonia and the Argentine Pampas were brought into the market of Chillán across the mountain passes of the area. In the early 19th century, the countryside of Chillán was ravaged by the Chilean War of Independence and a subsequent banditry epidemic. In 1939, the city was devastated by a large earthquake prompting the government to initiate an extensive reconstruction…

Source: Wikivoyage · CC BY-SA 4.0.