Carahue

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Carahue is a city and commune in southern Chile, in the province of Cautín in the Araucanía region.

Together with the communes of Nueva Imperial, Saavedra, Teodoro Schmidt and Toltén, it integrates the Association of Costa Araucanía Municipalities, a corporate initiative for cooperative community development

Territory

Photography from the viewpoint of Ercilla Avenue, overlooking the Villa station, the Imperial River and the Eduardo Frei Montalva Bridge.

Carahue has a territory of 1,341 km² where 0.15% are for urban and industrial use, 34.91% for agricultural use, 39.11% forests, 21.02% grasslands and scrublands and 0.92% no vegetation.

Within the commune are the cities of Carahue, Trovolhue, Tranapuente and Nehuentúe. There are more than 82 Mapuche and Lafquenche communities in them. The city is approximately 56 km from Temuco, the regional capital.

Population

The population of the commune reaches 26,562 inhabitants, where the percentage of rural population reaches 54.87% and the urban population 45.13%. The percentage of the female population is 49.34% and the male population is 50.66%. The population density is 19.2.

Toponymy

Carahue comes from the Mapudungun kara "fortification", possibly derived from the Quechua pucara, and by extension city or town, and we "place", "place of fortification" or "place of the city", in reference to the old La Imperial.

Carahue.-—Fuerte located in the Imperial department by the 38° 39' Lat. and 73° 15' Lon. It is settled on the northern margin of the Cautin river about 20 kilometres to the O. of the city of New Imperial and 35 to the E. of the mouth of that river. It was established on February 2, 1882, in the old seat of the former Imperial, and it was left the name that the Indians gave to that parade, which means place where there was a people.
Francisco Solano Asta-Buruaga y Cienfuegos, Geographical Dictionary of the Republic of Chile (1897)

History

Ancient Imperial (1551-1600)

Main article: The Imperial (Chile)

Map of colonization of the Province of Cautin (1897).

Association of Municipalities Costa Araucanía

The city was founded under the name of La Imperial by Don Pedro de Valdivia in 1551 on a hill facing the Imperial River. This city was located in the middle of the Mapuche settlements, as a result of which great battles took place, among which Alonso de Ercilla, writer of "La Araucana", participated. The Imperial was evacuated and abandoned in the year 1600 due to the general indigenous uprising after the battle of Curalaba in 1598.

Carahue (from 1882 to the present)

Map of the city of Carahue, 1895.

After the Occupation of Araucanía, the city was refounded on February 23, 1882 by General Gregorio Urrutia under the name of Carahue, to be used as a fluvial port and export center.

The refounded city of the 19th century did not receive the designation of "New Imperial", due to a confusion, derived from the misinterpretation of the Hispanic sources, which referred to the location of the city of La Imperial "between two great rivers"; site that the re-founders assumed as the one located at the confluence of the Cautín and Chol-Chol rivers, and not the correct site, in the place of the current Carahue, at the confluence of the Imperial and Damas rivers.

The fluvial port, dedicated to the transport of passengers between Carahue and Puerto Saavedra, and merchandise, where shipments and commercial imports of the Valck companies stand out, began to decline towards the end of the 1940s, specifically, derived from the disaster of the steam Cautín, dated as the deadliest shipwreck in Chilean naval history, never verifying the number of fatalities of course, which varies between 150 and 300 depending on the source. In 1949 a second fluvial tragedy occurred, the sinking of the steamer Helvetia, added to the inauguration of the suspension bridge of the city, an infrastructure that served to promote land transport to the coast.

The final crisis of the river port is stipulated derived from the Valdivia Earthquake of 1960, trips decreased drastically, derived from the transformations in the bed and mouth of the river, decrease in the depth of its waters and, fundamentally, the total destruction from the seaport of Saavedra, a city that did not recover for several decades, but not as an export and import port, but as a fishing and tourist cove, the Imperial River losing any transport and industrial function.

The city of Carahue occupies the lands that until 1882 belonged to the cacique Jacinto Toro, whose descendants today live near the place called "El Cometa", on the south bank of the Imperial.

Culture

The Municipal Culture Unit of Carahue, is in charge of carrying out the Municipal Culture Plan of the municipality of Carahue (PMC), which, based on the heritage rescue line, is part of the Study " Carahue Community Development Plan Update 2018-2021". Y Central government development strategy through the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, which seeks to promote the human and cultural development of each commune, integrating citizens in the preservation, promotion and dissemination of cultural activities and expressions of their territories, in the design, formulation and implementation of policies, plans and programs that contribute to cultural and heritage development in a harmonious and equitable manner throughout the national territory.

Strategic objectives in culture

- A commune of Carahue with cultural management linked in a participatory and close way to the daily life of people in urban and rural areas.

- A commune of Carahue that values its Intangible Cultural Heritage, protects and promotes it.

- A commune of Carahue where access to artistic practices is oriented for various age groups and places of residence.

- A commune that recovers and strengthens the cultural identities of its various territories.

Intangible Cultural Heritage

Specific area that is responsible for the work of recognition, revaluation and promotion of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of the commune of Carahue through the development and execution of programs and projects aimed at enhancing the value of said cultural heritage. Within this area we can mention the elaboration of projects, programs and events that must be developed around commemorative dates of milestones and significant activities of the Intangible Heritage of Carahue, such as those described below:

2 February- Commemoration of the International Day of Wetlands. In the sectors in which they exist within the commune.
February 21 - Mother tongue day; Nxutram - Talk about the use and revitalization of Mapudungun in Carahue territory. *Last weekend of May - National Cultural Heritage Day Memorial.
Seasons - Carahue Cultors and Crafts Fairs. Space for exhibition and dissemination of these heritages.

Economy

In 2018, the number of companies registered in Carahue was 256. The Economic Complexity Index (ECI) in the same year was -0.02, while the economic activities with the highest Revealed Comparative Advantage index (RCA) were Construction of Recreational and Sports Boats (164.84), Wholesale of Live Animals (90.17) and Retail of Flowers, Plants, Trees, Seeds and Fertilizers (82.99).

Administration

Consistorial house of the I. Municipality of Carahue.

Araucanía Coast

Since November 27, 2014, the communes of Carahue, Saavedra, Nueva Imperial, Teodoro Schmidt and Toltén, formed the Association of Costa Araucanía Municipalities (AMCA) with the purpose of working together, increasing public and private investment and promote a common territorial identity. On October 19, 2016, the Association managed to have the Costa Araucanía territory decreed as a "Zona de Rezago" through Supreme Decree No. 1490, which requires prioritizing public investment in the coastal territory.

Places of interest

Imperial Bishopric

The Bishopric of La Imperial was created on March 22, 1564 by order of Pope Pius IV, becoming the second diocese of Chile but it was abandoned in 1600 along with the rest of the city of La Imperial. Later Franciscan missionaries between 1840 and 1851 carried out missions in the area, discovered the ancient ruins of La Imperial and built a new temple, under the name of San Pablo, which was finished in 1931, repaired in 1960. due to the earthquake of the same year and remodeled in 1998 and 2003.

Museum of the Steam Age

Collection of madmobiles or enginesErcilla Avenue. Vapor Machine Museum.

Other madmen exposed.

Created in 1999 by a visionary initiative of the mayor of the time, Ricardo Herrera Floody. Since then, the museum - which is the world's largest collection of locomotives - has become a new symbol of the city. Its sample is made up of more than 40 locomobiles distributed in Av. Ercilla and its square. These transportable steam engines –the majority of British origin– were used as motive power in agricultural, industrial and forestry tasks between 1860 and 1930. As part of the museum, next to the Eduardo Frei Montalva suspension bridge, the Parque de las Máquinas is being set up and a Railway Museum, which already has six wagons, three cranes, stokers and two locomotives. Under the new administration, these locomobiles were painted over, which caused a lot of controversy at the local level as, for some, painting the locomobiles detracted from their important historical value.

When touring the city, one perceives an atmosphere of an old port with old warehouses, viewpoints, shops and a train station whose lines extended through the valley. The railway ticket office has been preserved, now restored, which will contain a sample of old objects and photographs of the area in the future.

Chile Square

Old crazy Marshall.

Plaza Chile is the name of the city square where you can see an odeon, popularly known as kiosco, a beautiful water fountain inaugurated on January 1, 2000 and named The Milenium Fountain, as well as two old locomotives, a miniature replica of the city, some houses with rabbits, to the delight of children and a micro-architecture that gives an elegant air of antiquity to the square, turning it into a one of the most beautiful in Chile.

Eduardo Frei Montalva Suspension Bridge and Parque de las Máquinas

One of the attractions of the city is its suspension bridge over the Imperial River, which construction began in 1946 and was inaugurated in 1949. In the year 2000 with the presence of the then President of Chile Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle and its mayor Ricardo Herrera Floody Archived June 26, 2017 at the Wayback Machine., the bridge was named Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva Bridge and 4 statues of large lions were inaugurated, which are located at both ends of the bridge. These statues, which are the largest cast copper pieces in the world, represent the 4 cardinal virtues: strength, justice, prudence and temperance. Next to the bridge there is the city's railway museum that has wagons, cranes, stoves and two steam locomotives, one of British origin (North British, from 1908) and the other of German origin (Henschel, from 1912). The Museum is part of the design of the ambitious project " Parque de las Maquinas ", next to the Imperial River.

Coastal Route

Photograph of the Lafquenche seaside, in front of the sector called Lilicura.

The commune has a large number of spas given its limitation with the Pacific Ocean, among which several can be named, including Moncul, Casa de Piedra, Hueñalihuén, Lobería, Los Obispos and Coi-Coi. These beautiful spas are visited especially in the summer, with a peak of visits in the second half of February.

Notable people

Armando Holzapfel Álvarez (1902-1969): lawyer and politician.
Nilo Floody Buxton (1921-2013): military and pentatleta.
Hernán Thiers Díaz (1926?-2012): rotary, firefighter and illustrious son.
Caupolican Peña Reyes (1930-): footballer and normalist professor.
David Riquelme Reyes (1937?-2008): Normalist teacher, social leader and illustrious son.
Eleuterio Toro Muñoz (1946-): Professor and illustrious son.
Jorge Enrique Concha Cayuqueo (1958-) Bishop of the Diocese of Temuco
Francisco Renán Toro Silva Artist Visual Sculptor and Ilustre Son.