World Heritage Sites in Chile


Rapa Nui National Park (Easter Island)

(27.12 S 109.37 W) -- satellite image

Rapa Nui is a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean. The name Easter island was provided by the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen in 1722 to commemorate the day of his arrival. Center of the World, "Te Pito o Te Henua" is the ancient name known by the natives. Today, its 2000 people are predominantly Polynesian, its administration is Chilean, and its main tourist attraction is the giant stone statuary (moai).


Churches of Chiloe

(42.50 S 73.92 W)

These churches are examples of the successful fusion of European and indigenous cultural traditions to produce a unique form of wooden architecture.


Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaiso

(33.04 S 71.63 W) -- satellite image

Valparaiso is testimony to the early phase of globalisation in the late 19th century when it became the leading merchant port on the sea routes of the Pacific coast of South America.


Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works

(20.206 S 69.794 W)

Sewell Mining Town

(34.084 S 70.383 W) -- satellite image

Located on the slopes of the Andes, the deepest copper mine in the world is still in operation, but Sewell mining town is now uninhabited. It was known as the city of stairs because there were no roads, only a train that brought workers and their families to the camp. The town was founded by the Braden Copper Co in 1904, but in 1977 the company started moving families to a nearby valley and dismantled the camp.


Qhapaq Nan, Andean Road System

(
multiple sites)

Joint listing with Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. This site is a network of roads constructed by the Incas over several centuries covering 30,000km and includes 273 component sites. The network links the snow-capped peaks of the Andes at an altitude of more than 6,000 m to the coast, running through hot rainforests, fertile valleys and absolute deserts.


Settlement and Artifical Mummification of the Chinchoorro Culture in the Arica and Parinacota Region

( -18.482 S -70.321 W)

The property presents the oldest known archaeological evidence of the artificial mummification of bodies with cemeteries that contain both artificially mummified bodies and some that were preserved due to environmental conditions.



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Lynn Salmon <>{

Last Updated: August 13, 2021