A walk through time in Chile Chico, the city of sun

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Undiscovered Patagonia

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Trail stats

Distance: 6.15 mi
Elevation gain: 125 ft
Technical difficulty: Easy
Elevation loss: 118 ft
Max elevation: 778 ft
TrailRank: 36
Min elevation: 689 ft
Trail type: Loop

Coordinates: 96
Uploaded: July 2, 2014
Recorded: July 2014

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near Chile Chico, Aisén (Chile)

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Itinerary description

The sunny streets of Chile Chico, located on the southern shore of Lago General Carrera, hold infinite memories of the times when this city was the trade and transportation epicenter of the whole southern area of Aysén. This small walk transports you from the modernity of today to Chile Chico’s first economic boom, when settlers arrived from various corners of the world, bringing their dreams, their culture and their work.

Waypoints

Cerro Las Banderas Scenic Overlook

From here, you’ll walk toward the Cerro Las Banderas Scenic Overlook, where you’ll have an excellent vantage point for viewing the entire town and its strategic location along the southern shore of General Carrera Lake. Cerro Las Banderas (Cerro of the Flags), owes its name to 1960s immigrants who arrived from countries around the world, including Belgium, Argentina, Peru, Lebanon, Spain, and Bolivia, and started the local custom of adding their homeland’s flags to that of Chile in an early demonstration of multiculturalism.

First public school

Next you can head down to the site of the city’s first public school (corner of Bernardo O'Higgins and Pedro González), which is the present site of the Gobernación Provincial, which manages the public administration of the Province. This site is where the town officially began, thanks to the vision of Professor Luisa Rabal Palma. Her choice of locations for the town’s first school set the course for urban settlement that was centered around this building.

Antártica Hotel

Plaza Hotel

Continue walking along O’Higgins to the Plaza Hotel (corner of Bernardo O'Higgins and Balmaceda Street). Built in 1937, this hotel was much more than lodging, it was the center of Chile Chico’s nightlife! The hotel had spacious lounges and even a movie theater, and was host for many of Chile’s famous figures, including Presidents Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, Eduardo Frei Montalva, Salvador Allende, and poet Pablo Neruda, among whose many honors is the 1971 Noble Prize in Literature.

Plaza Auil

Plaza de Armas

Frente a la Plaza se ubica la Gobernación Provincial y algunos edificios patrimoniales como el Hotel Plaza y otros.

Muelle

El recorrido del casco histórico lleva hasta el muelle y su recién inaugurada costanera. La construcción del puerto y la llegada de las primeras embarcaciones fueron vitales para la conexión con el resto del país y de los pueblos aledaños al lago.

Costanera

La costanera de Chile Chico es un hito importante en la ciudad donde se puede observar el lago.

Vapor Andes

The next stop along this tour of the historic old town takes you to the pier and newly opened waterfront. The construction of the port and the arrival of the first iron boats were vital aspects of the Chile Chico’s development, connecting the southern reaches of the region with the rest of the country and the Atlantic coast. The vessel that best represents this era is the Andes, which began operating in 1922. It has been conserved and converted into a museum which you can visit on the corner of Bernardo O'Higgins and Lautaro, next to the Casa de la Cultura.

Pioneros Houses

Simón Bolivar Street

Iglesia

Hostería de la Patagonia

As you head east through town along Bernardo O'Higgins, which is the same road that leads to the Paso Río Jeinimeni Border Crossing, you’ll come to an area known as “the chacras” where there are fields lined with huge poplar trees and a series of houses that are the living testimony of the Belgian colonization in 1948. After World War II, a group of Belgians decided to seek a new life at the end of the world. They brought 57 adults and children, including a teacher, a doctor and a priest, to settle in Chile Chico, crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Punta Arenas via ship, with an incredible amount of cargo that included 18 huge overland trucks, left over after the war. From the Magallanes port, they traveled through the Argentine pampas in a convoy toward their new Chilean home. Learn more about their adventures by visiting some of these houses that are now restaurants and hotels, including the Hostería de la Patagonia or the restaurant, La Mercé.

Jean Piere d'Smet House

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