La Calera (Chile)

The Cerro de La Calera during the winter season and at the bottom of La Calera.

La Calera, or simply Calera, is a city and commune in central Chile, located on the banks of the Aconcagua River, in the Province of Quillota, Region from Valparaiso. The main settlement is the city of La Calera, being part of the Gran Quillota Conurbation together with the communes of La Cruz and Quillota.

On the corner of General Baquedano street and Esmeralda, is the Municipal Stadium Nicolás Chahuán Nazar, where the club Unión La Calera plays in the First Division of Chilean soccer.

Toponymy

The name of La Calera comes from the production of lime, which was obtained from processed limestone (calcium carbonate), such as that extracted from the Huecura hill. (from Mapudungun: We kura 'new stone'), today known as La Melonita, in the south of the city. Therefore, La Calera means "lime quarry".

History

La Calera, original plan of heritage of Mr. Huici, 1889

The old La Calera hacienda, which included the lands known today as Artificio and El Olivo, was property of the Jesuits from 1628 to 1767, the year in which the King of Spain ordered the expulsion of the Jesuits.

In 1716, the general commissioner Pedro Amaza Iturgoyen, who was commanded by the King of Spain, managed to get the Santiago council to grant him permission to build a gunpowder mill on his lands, the same lands that would later take the relative name to this activity: Artifice. The mill was exploited and developed by the Jesuits.

After the expulsion of the Jesuits, their lands were quickly sold. In 1804 Ramón Ovalle Vivar purchased the Calera hacienda formerly known as San Vicente or La Palmilla. The hacienda remained in his family's possession until in 1842 when the Spanish businessman Ildefonso Huici bought the north-eastern part of the La Calera hacienda from the heirs of Don Ramón Ovalle for $100,000. This was in charge of the industrialization of the area with the products of the region. In 1844, a conglomerate of workers' homes located around the factories and production centers established in the area was formed, this being the main antecedent in the formation of Calera. At the end of the XIX century, Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna would write: "What Calera keeps intact is its lime and its chicha, especially La Calera - Huici".

The south-west portion of the hacienda de la Calera remained in the hands of the Ovalle family, later being known as "La Calera de Ovalle". Said hacienda later became property around 1877 to Díaz Gana, buying it for $87,000.

There were also, in the XIX century, small cement factories, among which it is worth mentioning the companies of: José Regis, Carlos Cousiño, Enrique López and Juan Geiger.

José Huici also donated land for the construction of the State Railway Station, which began construction in 1852 and was inaugurated in 1863.

Francisco Astaburoaga in 1899 in his Geographical Dictionary of the Republic of Chile refers only to the Railway Station:

Calera (Estación de la).- - In the railway of Santiago to Valparaíso, located in the department of Quillota 118 kilometers towards the NO. of the first city and 66 towards the E. de Valparaíso. It is adjacent to the southern or left bank of the Aconcagua River and surrounded by the S. of high mountains, on whose skirts, in front of the station, are exploited limestone mantle, which has given it the name. Contains major flour mills and other industrial establishments, post and telegraph offices and a population of 640 inhabitants. It is a communication point with the region of the northern band of that river and the department of Ligua, &c.

In 1891, President Balmaceda gave the go-ahead for the construction of the central square, which in 1943 would take the name Plaza Balmaceda.

In 1893, Calera obtained the category of department, which included the Subdelegations of La Calera, La Cruz, Charravata and Pocochay.

On May 6, 1894, the first municipality was established, its first mayor being Alejandro Silva de la Fuente, who was in charge of providing the town with electricity.

The geographer Luis Risopatrón described La Calera as a 'village' in his book Diccionario Jeográfico de Chile in 1924:

Calera (Aldea de La) 32° 48' 71° 13'. It consists of twenty blocks, has mail service, telegraphs and public schools, as! as a railway station, has flour mills, cement factory and other industrial establishments i is located on the edge S of the lower course of the river Aconcagua, at 217 m of altitude, 11 kilometers to the N of the village of Quillota; on the skirts of the serranias that are raised by the blue In 3 years of observations, 266.5 mm was recorded as an annual average of dropped water, with 683.7 mm of dropped water, in 32 days of rain, with 71 mm maximum daily, in 1919.

In 1932, the Municipality presided over by its Mayor Don Blas Olivares, proposed to the Public Works Directorate that it provide the city with drinking water and sewerage. From this date to the present, the city of La Calera has continued to develop actively.

Demographics

According to the 2002 national census, the commune had a total population of 49,503 inhabitants, of whom 24,134 are men and 25,369 are women. Of these, 47,836 (96.6%) lived in urban areas and 1,667 (3.4%) in rural areas. La Calera has 3.21% of the total population of the region. According to the INE 2017 census, the population of the commune is 50,554 inhabitants.

Graphic of demographic evolution of La Calera (Chile) between 1885 and 2017

Source of INE National Censuses

Population

The commune is made up of the city, in addition to the following localities:

• Artificial
• The Cabins
• Pachacamita
• Pachacama

Downtown is based on several streets, such as J.J. Pérez, Av. Diego Lillo, Aldunate, Carrera, Arturo Prat, also include streets such as Caupolicán, Blanco, Huici, Cochrane, Zenteno, Av. Almte. Latorre, Balmaceda, etc.

La Calera is made up of various towns, among which are: the Railway Town, the Huertos Obreros Town, the Héroes de La Concepción Town (former Cemento Melón), Villa Margarita, Villa Santo Domingo, Villa La Calera, El Bicentenario, Panamericana, Caupolicán, Villa Pablo Neruda, Villa las Fundadoras, Entrepuentes, El Trigal, Padre Hurtado, Los Pinos, Villa Los Huertos, Villa Empart, O'Higgins, Villa San Antonio, Victoria, Baquedano, Prince of Wales, Sports Field, Manuel Rodríguez, Cruz del Sur, SICEM, Aconcagua, Nueva Calera, Villa Los Copihues, Villa Valparaíso, Villa O'Higgins, Los Carrera, Villa San Miguel, Pablo Neruda II, El Molino, Villa Spinetto.

In the district of Artificio are the towns: Malteria, El Bosque, Lautaro, Punta de Diamante, El Parque, El Progreso (bordering La Calera with Nogales), Villa Las Américas, Villa Las Américas II, Villa Los Lagos, Villa Del Carmen, Pueblo Nuevo, Arboleda, Caupolicán, Panamericana, Tres Esquinas (Border of La Calera with Hijuelas), J.M. Salinas, René Pianovic (Shared with Hijuelas), La Mota, Santa Herminia, El Olivo (Border between La Calera and Hijuelas), Purutun, La Quebrada del Cura, La Peña.

Geography

View of La Calera and the Aconcagua River.

Calera is located 60 km from the Regional Capital Valparaíso and 118 km from Santiago. Its surface is 60.5 km². La Calera borders Nogales to the north and west, Hijuelas to the east, and La Cruz to the south. It is crossed by the Aconcagua River, forming a natural division between the city and the town of Artificio.

Climate

La Calera has a continental Mediterranean climate with a long dry season in summer, typical of the intermediate depression and valleys of central Chile. A special feature is its microclimate with cloudy mornings producing a very important moderating effect on temperatures, favorable for crops and plantations. In general, there is a relative humidity of the air of the order of 60%, and the average annual temperature is between 18 °C.

As it has a Mediterranean climate, the four seasons are well defined: summer is dry and hot, autumn is cool and somewhat humid, winter is cold and humid, and spring is pleasant, with temperatures that normally do not exceed 23 or 24 degrees.

Relatively hot from November to March, with highs up to 35°C on the hottest days. Its temperatures are lower than compared to other cities in the central zone, because it is located in a low-altitude valley, with oceanic influence. Winter (June to August) is more humid, with typical daily maximum temperatures of 15 °C, and average minimum temperatures of approximately 2 °C, although the wind chill can be much lower due to high humidity and strong winds. Fresh from the Pacific. Between 75 and 85% of the precipitations are in winter, between the months of May and August, with an average of 400 mm of water.

Average climate parameters of La Calera (1960-2010), ChileChile
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	43.2	44.5	42.7	37.1	32.0	24.9	26.2	31.2	32.1	34.2	38.9	42.7	44.5
Average temperature (°C)	31.5	31.0	28.9	23.8	18.2	14.1	13.2	16.8	19.2	22.4	26.2	29.7	21.0
Average temperature (°C)	19.1	18.6	17.2	14.7	11.6	8.5	7.8	10.7	12.5	14.8	16.8	18.3	14.2
Temp. medium (°C)	17.7	17.2	12.5	7.6	5.1	2.8	2.3	4.5	5.8	9.1	12.4	15.9	7.4
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	3.7	2.5	-0.1	-2.5	-5.6	-10.5	-8.6	-6.3	-3.8	-1.3	-0.6	2.2	-10.5
Total precipitation (mm)	0.1	1.3	2.1	15.4	71.6	108.7	92.2	68.7	23.5	11.3	5.6	1.1	401.6
Precipitation days (≥ 1 mm)	0	0	1	2	6	11	9	6	3	1	1	0	38
Source: Accuweather

Institutions

The commune has a variety of high schools, schools and colleges. There is also the Dr. Mario Sánchez Vergara Hospital, located at Carrera 1603. A bus terminal, the municipal cemetery, located in the Nogales commune, funeral homes, pharmacies and various shops; Plaza Balmaceda, Plaza Cemento Melón, the Puentes Línea or railway bridge, the Las Compuertas-Petorquita Bridges, Route 5, the international road, the parishes of Santo Nombre de Jesús and San José.

On the corner of General Esmeralda street and Baquedano street is the Nicolás Chahuán Nazar Municipal Stadium, where the Unión La Calera club is home and plays in the First Division of Chilean soccer.

Train Station

A great interchange of passengers was concentrated at this station, as it was the terminal of the Northern Network services, and the crossing point of the Santiago-Valparaíso Railroad. The Calera Station and Turntable located in the commune of the same name, Quillota province, Valparaíso Region of Chile, formed a very interesting complex, since it was a key station in the distribution of passengers and cargo between northern Chile and the rest of the country (Valparaíso, Los Andes, Santiago and the south). It was part of the First Zone of FF. DC. of the State with a gauge of 1,676 mm., which communicated Valparaíso with Santiago (it also did so with the San Pedro to Quintero branch and currently does so with the port of Ventanas) and from here it communicated with the Red Norte, with a gauge of 1 meter up to the city of Iquique in the north of the country. Its ownership is currently shared by EFE and FERRONOR, for the first and second sections respectively. The current station would have been built at the beginning of the '30s, standing out in the statement that "the station represented a new architectural expression, product of a new design and structural conception, possible thanks to the application of Portland cement technology, which then it was adopted as the image of the State Railway Company throughout the country”. The La Calera Station and Turntable was declared a National Historic Monument by Decree No. 306 of July 22, 2014.

Economy

In 1906, Don Carlos Barroilhet, motivated by Don Alfredo Cox, owner of the El Melón hacienda, studied the possibility of installing a Portland Cement factory in La Calera, mainly motivated by the large number of limestone mines that were located there. find. Finally, in 1908 the first Cemento Melón factory was inaugurated in Chile.

In 2018, the number of companies registered in Calera was 989. The Economic Complexity Index (ECI) in the same year was 0.71, while the economic activities with the highest Revealed Comparative Advantage index (RCA) were Poultry Raising for Meat Production (129.2), Retail Trade of Optical Items (117.7) and Retail Sale of Food for Pets and Animals in General (44.8).

Commerce and services

The current condition of the city makes it a so-called "Dry Port", mainly because the two main road networks of the region come together in this city: the Pan-American Route and the Valparaíso-Mendoza International Route, which supports a large amount of wholesale trade. It has an Open Plaza shopping center with a Falabella and Corona store, a Tottus hypermarket, 2 Sodimac home stores, 4 Cinemark movie theaters, pharmacies, playground, bakery, Falabella banking center, food court, underground parking for 400 cars and with more than 50 stores and premises.

It also has a wide range of supermarkets (Express de Lider, Tottus, Santa Isabel, Mayorista 10, SuperBodega aCuenta), banks, large pharmaceutical chains, perfumeries, department stores (Falabella, Ripley, Tricot, Seidemann, Family Shop stand out), home improvement and construction stores (Sodimac, Abcdin, (Ebema, Chilemat), etc. In addition, within the hotel services, there is the Hotel Gourmet.

Media

Newspapers

• The ObserverFor the Province of Quillota, Petorca and Marga Marga. It appears every Tuesday and Friday.
• The Star of Chillotacirculates in the Province of Quillota and Petorca every Friday.

Radio stations

FM

• 88.7 MHz Radio 88.7
• 89.1 MHz Radio Crystal
• 90.5 MHz Beat FM
• 91.5 MHz We're FM.
• 91.9 MHz Radio Carnival
• 92.7 MHz Nexo FM
• 95.7 MHz Sweet FM
• 97.1 MHz Radio Raudal
• 97.7 MHz FM Okey
• 101.5 MHz Radio Quillota
• 102.3 MHz Radio Sugar
• 103.7 MHz Radio Cosmos
• 104.7 MHz Libra FM
• 105.5 MHz Radio La Calera
• 107.1 MHz Radio Kayros
• 107.5 MHz Holy Radio Name of Jesus

AM

• 1530 kHz Radio Nexo

Television

VHF

• 2 - The Network
• 4 - TV+
• 6 - TVN
• 7 - Telecanal.
• 9 - Channel 13
• 10 - Chilevision
• 11 - Mega (no concessional expiry signal) ^{[chuckles]required]}
• 13 - Our vision

TDT

• 2.1 - Chilevision HD
• 2.2 - UChile TV
• 9.1 - Channel 13 HD
• 9.2 - T13 Live
• 26.1 - Girovisual HD1
• 26.2 - Girovisual HD2
• 26.3 - Girovisual HD3
• 48.1 - VTV Quillota
• 48.3 - TV Costa

Cable

• 9 - Fifth Division (VTR)

Culture and tourism

La Calera has:

• National monuments: The railway station of La Calera, which was an important station of the State Railway Network (EFE), the La Calera Railway where the station and the tornamesa de la Estación de Ferrocarriles de La Calera.

• Living sculptures: Topics of cultural plant animals found on the central side of the avenue Ignacio career Pinto.

• Horns of lime: Horns found on the hill the melonite.

• Lookout of the hill cross the melonite: Viewer with large letters welcoming visitors to the city with a view of the Aconcagua River Valley.

• Cartel "Welcome to La Calera": Sculpture of large letters that welcomes visitors to the city, is located in the hill La Calera, at the sight of much of the city.

Connectivity

La Calera belongs to the "Quillota - La Cruz - La Calera" (or Great Quillota). The city can be accessed by car via Route 60 CH and Route 5 North.

Projects

During 2019, the tender for the engineering studies for the extension of the Limache-Puerto Train to this station was announced, which were completed in July 2021. The work includes the construction of three new railways ―two for passengers and one for cargo―, as well as the implementation of power lines for trains. It is estimated that the La Calera-Puerto journey will last one hour and twenty-three minutes, which will represent a saving of three hours on round trips.

He also has other projects:

• PDI Building
• Restoration of the cultural centre
• Construction of new bridges Pedro de Valdivia and Santa Rosa
• The continuation of the Costanera Avenue of the Aconcagua River
• Autocarril La Calera-Artificio
• Humedal Urbano Estero el Litre
• Construction of the carving of the locomotive

Sports

Former Municipal Stadium Nicolas Chahuán Nazar during a football match between Catholic University and La Calera Union.

The Nicolás Chahuán Nazar Municipal Stadium is located in the city of La Calera, in the Valparaíso Region, Chile. It has a current capacity estimated at 10,000 spectators, with a record attendance of 16,000 people in the duel between Unión La Calera and Deportes Talcahuano in the final stage of the 1999 Chilean Third Division championship. Calera, a club that plays in the First Division, plays at home. It is located at the corner of Esmeralda and Baquedano streets, in La Calera.

The emergence of Unión La Calera in the 1950s from the merger of several local clubs meant that the team needed a venue to play their home games. Many of the efforts were made by local manager Nicolás Chahuán Nazar, who was the one who gathered the five thousand signatures necessary for the establishment of the club and its affiliation to the Central Football Association of Chile in 1954. The stadium itself had been built on a record time of two months in 1950.

The death of Nicolás Chahuán occurred after a match in 1988 between Unión La Calera and Santiago Wanderers. The referee charged a last-minute penalty that precipitated the leader's heart attack, who died hours later at the local hospital. From that year, the stadium bears the name of the outstanding leader.

In 2007, the city bid with its stadium to host the 2008 U20 Women's World Championship. The mayor of the town postulates that the stadium is "luxury", and would require few repairs for the event.

Professional Soccer

The Club de Deportes Unión La Calera is located in the city. It is a Chilean football club, from the city of La Calera in the Valparaíso Region. It was founded on January 26, 1954, and currently plays in the First Division of Chile. The Club Deportivo Unión La Calera was founded on April 15, 1955. Its light was born after the merger of 5 clubs; Calera Comercio, Cemento Melón, Cóndor, Minas Navío and Tifón. At present, the official date of foundation is celebrated on January 26, 1954.

In the beginning, the Cóndor clubs (the main architect with the idea of reaching professional soccer), Calera Comercio and Tifón on the one hand, merged. These teams formed the "Deportes La Calera" on January 26, 1954 (Blue shirt and shield). On the other hand, the archrival of all the Calerano teams of that time; Cemento Melón, tried in parallel to enter professional soccer, a request that was rejected. In an attempt to reverse this situation, it merged with Minas Melón and Minas Calera, forming "Deportes Melón".

After Deportes La Calera accepted to enter professional soccer, a team was formed with players only from the merged teams. Deportes Calera's career in professional soccer was coming downhill since the public did not support it and the number of members remained low. The economic power of Deportes Melón and La Calera's need for income led to the decision to opt for a new merger: that of "Deportes La Calera" and "Deportes Melón". In the first instance, the "románticos" leaders did not decide on such a merger, however sanity prevailed and that is how what we know today as the "Unión" Club was born. from La Calera. The shirt was changed to red and a new shield was designed for the institution (the current one), with a "U" in the center white (Cemento Melón), with a blue background (Cóndor and Tifón) and green (Minas Navío) and the name of the city in white with a red background (Calera Comercio).

The First Board that was in charge of the red box was formed in the Presidency by the then Mayor of La Calera Ramón Aravena Laborde, as vice president was Nicolás Chahuán Nazar (in his honor the Municipal stadium bears his name), the Treasurer was Sergio Olave, Pro-Treasurer Luis Herrera, Secretary Julio Rolando Escobar, Pro-Secretary Heraldo Cabezas and its first Directors were Alberto Caso, Manuel García, Hernán Latorre, Manuel Rubilar, Juan Silva, Froilán Vergara and Sergio Zelaya.

Traditionally, Unión La Calera wears a red shirt, white shorts, white socks for its starting uniform and a white shirt, white shorts, white socks for its alternate uniform, but during the 2007 season the cementeros began to wear a white and red shirt with horizontal stripes, white shorts and white socks as the starting uniform, very similar to the one worn by the same team when they got promoted to the First Division in 1984. For 2010 the starting uniform is a red shirt with white vertical bars, red shorts and red socks.

Administration

La Calera belongs to Electoral District No. 6 and to the 6th Senatorial District (Valparaíso). It is represented in the Chamber of Deputies of the National Congress by deputies Andrés Longton (RN), Luis Pardo (RN), Camila Flores (RN), Pablo Kast (Evópoli), Marcelo Schilling (PS), Carolina Marzán (PPD), Daniel Verdessi (DC), and Diego Ibáñez (Social Convergence). In turn, it is represented in the Senate by Senators Francisco Chahuán (RN), Kenneth Pugh (RN), Ricardo Lagos Weber (PPD), Isabel Allende (PS) and Juan Ignacio Latorre (RD).

The commune of La Calera is directed by the mayor Johnny Piraino Meneses (RN), who is advised by the following councilors: