Valparaiso Introduction

City Introduction

Valparaiso, an important seaport in eastern Pacific Coast of South America and the capital of Aconcagua and Valparaiso Province, located on the south bank of Valparaiso Bay, approximately 130 kilometers away from Santiago and built in 1536. This city was once destroyed by pirates, windstorm, fire and earthquakes, most of the buildings were rebuilt after the earthquake in 1906. Valparaiso has broad harbors, Solid seawalls and modern port facilities. It is also the largest trading port in Chile and accounts for half of the country's imports. The industries include textile, metal-processing, chemical engineering, oil refining, sugar refining, apparel, leather, painting and so on, which accounts for nearly 20 percent of the whole country. The spectacular nature and pleasant weather here make it a great tourism attraction and there are a lot of universities and museums. The western terminal station traverses the Andes international railway and linked with electric trains in capital. Most of the citizens are European emigrants, especially descendants of English, German, French, Italian emigrants. Meanwhile, this city is also the place where the National Assembly, Ministry of Culture and Naval Command of Chile is.

History and Culture

In the golden age of Valparaiso (1848-1914), it attracted a large number of European emigrants and the communities they formed brought a special signature for this city, which was particularly significant in the city’s architectural style. Every emigrant community built their own churches and schools while more and more communities established other economic and cultural institutions, the largest of them were from Britain, Germany and Italy, every community set up settlements on the hillside near the communities, all of which can be still seen today in the National Historic District.

In the second half of the 20th century, Valparaiso experienced a huge downturn and most of the wealthy people moved away from the city center to the prosperous Santiago or Vina del Mar. In the beginning of the 1990s, Valparaiso lost numerous unique heritages and many Chileans abandoned the city. However, by the mid-1990s, a movement launched by grass-roots level was developing vigorously in Valparaiso.