CHILOE

Chiloé

Región de Los Ríos
Lake District

"Chiloé Island” is a land of myths and legends with all the magic of the emerald sea, mist-shrouded hills and small coves that are home to a variety of different colored wooden boats. This is Chile's second-largest island, located south of Puerto Montt with an eastern coast that faces the Gulf of Ancud, and a western Pacific shore. With the exception of a few small towns, the main activity here is sheepherding, which tends to make travelers feel as if they have been transported back a century. Across the island, there are wooden churches built in the style of Bavarian, neoclassical style, they are so beautiful and unique that they are considered World Heritage Sites. Another attraction of Chiloé is its people, the hardy, indigenous Chilotes who can still be seen plowing their fields with oxen in the same way they have done for centuries. Spanish conquistadors occupied Chiloé as early as 1567, followed by Jesuit missionaries and Spaniards who were pushed off the mainland by Mapuche Indian attacks. Isolation has produced a singular culture among its residents. A blend of Indian and Spanish blood that generated a certain "local slang, mythical folklore and style of food and architecture. This particular culture is still preserved to this day.