Puren

Purén (from Mapudungun: puren 'land of swamps') is a city and commune in the southern zone of Chile located northwest of the Malleco Province, in the Araucanía Region. The geography is characterized by being located on the basin of the homonymous river, which is part of the Imperial river basin, at the foot of the Nahuelbuta mountain range.

It integrates together with the communes of Angol, Collipulli, Curacautín, Ercilla, Lonquimay, Los Sauces, Lumaco, Renaico, Traiguén and Victoria (of the Province of Malleco); Galvarino, Lautaro, Melipeuco, Perquenco and Vilcún (from the Province of Cautín); Electoral District No. 22, which elects four deputies. It also belongs to the XI Senate District, which includes the Region of La Araucanía, which has five seats in the Senate.

Toponymy

Purén in the Mapudungun language means land of swamps.

History

Puren Fort

The place where Purén is located is a site of great historical significance, where the Mapuches of the Nagche group for more than three hundred years put up great resistance to Spanish domination in the so-called Arauco War. It is an old stronghold, whose establishment dates from the first years of the Conquest of Chile. He founded it Juan Gómez de Almagro, by order of the then Governor of Chile Pedro de Valdivia, in the spring of 1553. He named it Juan Bautista de Purén or Casa Vieja.

In 1589 it received some improvements, having Alonso de Sotomayor build his fortress, but always harassed by the Mapuches, it became depopulated again and was burned by them in the uprising that broke out at the Battle of Curalaba.

The indigenas de paz claimed that the natives of Purén relentlessly attacked the indigenous tribes that lived in peace near the forts of Arauco and Lebu, burning their huts, destroying their crops, stealing their wives and children and they created a situation that made it impossible to preserve any order. Father Valdivia himself, warned of the danger that the preservation of peace between those tribes was running, also went to the north of Biobío to talk with the Governor, and seek some remedy against that state of affairs.

In 1655 Governor Francisco de Meneses completely restored his fort and repopulated it. The alternatives of abandonment, fires and restoration of this square and the constant hostilities of the Mapuches to recover their lands, decided the governor Gabriel Cano y Aponte to order its demolition and permanent abandonment in 1723, replacing it with the San Carlos de Purén fortress called Nuevo Purén.. The old ruins were known as Purén Viejo and could still be seen in 1890.

Foundation and creation of the commune

On February 9, 1869, Colonel Cornelio Saavedra Rodríguez founded Purén, which is located in the northwestern sector of Araucanía. After the occupation of Araucanía, European and Chilean settlers began to arrive, producing a unique meeting of cultures, among the latter the Swiss settlers stood out, who made an important contribution to industry, agriculture, architecture and many areas of the culture of Purén, living in harmony with the Creoles, mestizos and Mapuches. Among the achievements, the creation of the first fig coffee substitute factory in South America in 1897 by the Schmidlin Karrer family stands out.

On March 12, 1887, under the government of Manuel Balmaceda and Minister Carlos Antúnez, the Province of Malleco and the Department of Angol were created, which had the 7th Sub-delegation of Purén within its jurisdiction. On March 15, 1896, the distribution plan for Urbanization of city sites was approved, later the intervention of the neighbor Don José Medín Reyes made it possible to write 40 houses within the urban radius. On August 12, 1907, the definitive creation of Purén was approved by the State Council and on September 8, 1936, the Province of Malleco was established, creating the commune of Purén.

The railway and its station reached Purén in May 1923, as part of the Los Sauces-Lebu branch, with two additional stations within the communal area at Guadaba and Tranamán.

Administration

San Enrique Parish and Consistorial House of the Ilustre Municipality of Purén

The Illustrious Municipality of Purén is led by its mayor, Jorge Rivera Leal, who is the highest community authority, and by the Municipal Council, made up of six councilors.

Likewise, the commune belongs to electoral district No. 22, which is represented in the Chamber of Deputies of the National Congress by parliamentarians Jorge Rathgeb Schifferli (RN) and Mario Venegas Cárdenas (DC). In turn, the commune belongs to District XI (Araucanía), which is represented in the Senate by legislators Jaime Quintana Leal (PPD) and Alberto Espina Otero.

Attractions

Glorieta and central source in the form of a body of the Plaza de Armas.

Historic Museum of Purén.

Ex Hotel Steiner and Casa Scheel, architectural heritage of the Swiss settlers in the commune.

• Chilean Military Fort of Purén: founded by order of Don Cornelio Saavedra, on February 9, 1869, next to the present town of Purén. It is located 5 blocks east of the Plaza de Armas.
• Natural Contulmo monument: 10 km from Purén (camino to Contulmo). Natural 82 ha, characterized by its large ferns, rich flora and abundant species. It has picnic areas and trails.
• Mapuche Museum: it displays various objects of Mapuche culture: pottery, weapons, jewellery, basketry, etc., from pre-Hispanic times to present. It is located on the side of the Pacification Fort.
• Historic Museum of Purén: Collect objects, documents and photographs of the history of Purén and belongings of the actress Malú Gatica and poet Tulio Mora Alarcón, both illustrious children of this land.
• Petroglyphs. Archaeological vegetables on a large stone front, on the banks of the Nahuelco River, Pangueco sector.
• The kueles: 1500-year-old artificial and sacred mounds of the Mapuche people that last until today. Located in the Valleys of Purén and Lumaco, they offer a history of the oldest monuments and rituals of the Mapuches.
• Medialuna del Club de Rodeo "Los Copihues": has the necessary conditions for the practice of Chilean rodeo.
• The architectural heritage of European settlers in the communal urban centre: Boisier Besserer, Boisier Musset, Hoebel, Shop Jonas (Casa Biel), Scheel, the Ex Botica "El León" and the Ex Hotel Steiner.

The best time to visit Purén is in the southern summer months —January and February— especially the first half of February, when it celebrates its anniversary, on those days the Strawberry Festival is held, an event that brings together artists popular Chileans and comedians, in addition the queen of the town is chosen, who in a striking allegorical car must travel the main streets greeting the neighbors and visitors.

Economy

According to data from the Internal Revenue Service (SII), in 2018, the number of companies registered in Purén was 174. The Economic Complexity Index (ECI) in the same year was -0.47, while the economic activities with the highest Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index were Production of Cereal, Legume and Oilseed Seeds (103.08), Wood Cutting Services (89.86) and Small Stores for Food Sales (88.53).

Transportation

In relation to interurban public transport, the only communal terrestrial port is the "Hernán Thiele Kuhn" bus terminal, located half a block from the Plaza de Armas, from where direct services are carried out daily to Angol, Temuco, Los Ángeles, Lebu, Concepción, Santiago and their respective intermediates. It was named in honor of the founder of one of the main bus fleets in the area, who died in 2018. The commune also has a fleet of private taxis. There are no collective taxi lines or urban minibuses.

Public services

Purén Fire Department in 2021

Regarding public health, the Purén Hospital is a low-complexity hospital, managed by the Araucanía Norte Health Service and whose current facilities were built in 1980. For care of With greater complexity, patients are referred to the Dr. Mauricio Heyermann Torres de Angol Hospital or the Temuco Regional Hospital.

Regarding public order and citizen security, the Purén Police Station is a police unit of the Carabineros de Chile that reports to the 3rd Traiguén Police Station, which in turn is subordinated to the 21st Malleco Prefecture.

The Purén Fire Department was founded in November 1964 and has two companies.

Education

The commune has two secondary schools: the Liceo Bicentenario Indómito and the Liceo María Aurora Guíñez Ramírez.

The first communal educational establishment was the German-speaking and Protestant religious training school, founded in 1895 by Swiss settlers (from German Switzerland) and Germans residing in the commune, an institution that is currently not in operation. In 1909, said school had 32 regular students.

Notable people

• Film (? - ?): Mapuche warlor.
• Agustín López de Alcázar (1780-1850): political and military. ^{[chuckles]required]}
• Juan Lorenzo Colipí (1818-1839): Mapuche, captain of the Chilean Army.
• Malú Gatica (1922-1997): actress and singer.
• Tulio Mora Alarcón (1929-1989): writer, poet and educator.
• Dolores Walker (Lucia Waiser Palombo) (1931-): painter, recorder and professor. ^{[chuckles]required]}
• Oscar Rojas Giacomozzi (1958-): footballer.
• «Bombo» Fica (Daniel Fica Roa) (1963-): humorist.
• Carlos Cisterna Parra (1982-): journalist and television panelist.
• Iván Contreras Rodríguez (1933-): Plastic artist and professor University of Concepción. ^{[chuckles]required]}