Talagante
Talagante is a Chilean city and commune, capital of the homonymous province of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, in central Chile.
It integrates, along with the communes of Alhué, Curacaví, Isla de Maipo, María Pinto, Melipilla, El Monte, Padre Hurtado, Peñaflor and San Pedro, Electoral District No. 31 and belongs to the 7th Senate District of the XIII Metropolitan Region. Its current mayor is Carlos Álvarez.
Toponymy
Talagante comes from the Quechua Tala-Canta-Ilabe, and means "sorcerer's bond", which was the name of the curaca or Inca ruler who administered the Central Valley upon the arrival of the Spanish. Later, in the time of the Viceroyalty, Talacanta became a Pueblo de indios.
Geography
The geographic coordinates of Talagante are the following:
- Altitude: 313 meters
- Latitude: 33o 40' S
- Length: 70o 52' O
The commune is located in the central valley of Chile, 35 km southwest of Santiago, between -33º37', -33º 47' south latitude and 70º 48', 71º 01' West. It is part of the Province of Talagante, in the northern limit is the commune of Peñaflor; to the west is El Monte; Isla de Maipo to the south, and finally to the east with Calera de Tango. In addition to the city of Talagante, the commune has towns in the interior, as is the case of Lonquén.
Physical aspects
The commune of Talagante is bathed by the Mapocho and Maipo rivers. The city of Talagante has extended to the west by highway, towards the port of San Antonio, and its urban configuration maintains the shape of a chessboard, with the round Plaza de Armas standing out in the center.
History
The first traces of human beings in the area date back approximately 2000 years. These inhabitants practiced the hunting of animals such as the guanaco and the fox, as well as birds and rodents, as well as the gathering of wild vegetables.
Early agro-pottery period
The first community that has been found corresponds to the Bato Tradition, which was established around 300 BC and 400 AD, sharing cultural patterns with the Molle Culture, which was located further north. Characteristic of said culture was the use of the tembetá; In addition, mortars were found, which are stone elements used to grind vegetables and minerals. Evidence of the place of this group is in the former Trebulco farm and in La Manresa, located in the town of Lonquén.
The second culture of which there are findings, has the name of the Llolleo Cultural Complex, established between 200 and 800 AD, coexisting with the Bato Tradition. This culture dedicated great dedication and time to horticulture. The use of certain cultural elements has also been clearly identified, (of which ceramics is the most significant), human-shaped vessels, and animals. Among the funeral customs, there is the use of urns made of clay and clay. This culture is evident in the central sector of Talagante, more specifically in Balmaceda street with O'Higgins, where there is currently a supermarket.
Late agro-pottery period
Between the years 900 and 1400 AD is the Aconcagua Culture, a new group of farmers, who also made pottery. An important cultural element is the external shape of the tombs. To build them, an accumulation of earth was intentionally created, in a circular way, above the natural level of the terrain. Grind forms were popular as well. This work was carried out in large rocks, in which numerous holes were made that were used to grind vegetables and minerals.
Inca Empire
The Inca Túpac Yupanqui began an expansive campaign that his heirs concluded by setting the Maule River as the limit. The Inca commander established himself in the Llollehue valley. There he also founded a colony and built a pucará, which was left in charge of Tala Canta Inca Ilabe, the son of the Inca.
The Colony in Talagante
After the capital of the Kingdom of Chile was founded, Bartolomé Blumenthal, a carpenter and builder (as well as a financier of Valdivia) was commissioned to look for wood to this land. This is how Blumenthal arrived at the lands of the Inca Tala Canta, with whom he had a great understanding. Not only did he obtain wood, but also labor for the construction of Santiago, he also became interested in clay vessels that impressed him. The Inca's family was converted to Christianity and Bartolomé Blumenthal's girlfriend was baptized as Elvira, becoming the new cacique Elvira de Talagante.
Blumenthal's services were rewarded by Pedro de Valdivia, with the transfer of the caciques' encomienda. In 1555, Blumenthal Spanishized his name by calling himself Bartolomé Flores, later he had a daughter with Elvira de Talagante, who was called Águeda Flores, who would later be the grandmother of Catalina de los Ríos y Lisperguer, nicknamed La Quintrala. Flores died in 1585, leaving power to her wife Elvira, who stood out with her Catholic observance, for the missionaries who were in San Francisco del Monte.
In May 1604, Ginés de Lillo, in compliance with an ordinance of the kingdom, arrived in Talagante proceeding to measure and ratify the dominations of Elvira de Talagante, who died at the end of that year, passing all her possessions to Águeda Flores, who married Captain Pedro Lísperguer.
On May 13, 1647, Talagante was succumbed by a great earthquake, leaving a large part of the buildings on the ground and there were harsh winters, in which it snowed 3 days in a row, which is the most disastrous situation in the city.
Already in the middle of the XVIII century, it was a road pass to Valparaíso.
Talagante in the Republic period
During the Spanish Reconquest, Marcó del Pont, appointed the new cacica Martina de los Santos Toro, who ruled over 200 families that lived around the inn. After the Battle of Chacabuco, nothing more was heard from her.
José de los Santos Toro took over, who, in 1822, was visited by María Graham, an Englishwoman who toured the Talagante area, leaving a writing called Diary of my residence in Chile in 1822.
Talagante was officially founded in December 1837, with the signatures of the President of Chile, José Joaquín Prieto and Joaquín Tocornal Jiménez, under the name Villa Santa Maria de Talagante.
Francisco Solano Asta-Buruaga y Cienfuegos wrote in 1899 in his Geographical Dictionary of the Republic of Chile about the place:
Talagante.-—Villa del departamento de la Victoria located by the 33rd 39' Lat. v 70° 55' Lon. on the road of the city of Santiago to Melipilla, disting the SO. from the first 35 kilometers and 30 to the O. de San Bernardo; it is located on the eastern or left bank of the Mapocho River. It was at the entrance of the first Spaniards a regular village of indigenous people that came diminishing until the year of 1747, in which they were transferred to Purutun almost all those who subtracted, by the owner of this fund Don Pedro Amaza owns the title of Cacique of Talagante. Contains 960 inhabitants, free school, Estafeta, parish church, civil registration office, &c. Its contours are cultivated and its immediation is extracted a kind of clay, from which pieces of curious pottery and even fine.
The Chilean geographer Luis Risopatrón described it as a 'village' in his book Diccionario Jeográfico de Chile in 1924:
Talagante (Villa) 33° 40' 70° 56 It has mail service, telegraphs, civil rejistro, public schools and railway station, presents streets cut in a straight angle i it is 343 or altitude, in the middle of cultivated contours, in the W margin of the lower course of the Mapocho river, 9 kilometers to the SW of the village of Malloco i 6 km to the NE of the regular village of El Monte; it was at the entrance of the first Spaniards. that came diminishing until the year of 1747, in which almost all that remained, were transferred to Puratun. At its immediation is a kind of clay, with which curious pieces of pottery are worked; in a year. From observations, 374.1 mm has been recorded for the water. 62. II, ii. 141; 63, p. 261; 66, p. 319; 6S, p. 242; 103, p. 98; 155, p. 779; i 156; i people in 101, p. 444.
Abundant historical data on Talagante appear in the book Historia de Talagante, by journalist Hernán Bustos Valdivia, published in 2008.
In the 1950s, a group of muleteers came from San Antonio through Talagante and headed to Santiago on the back of mules with cochayuyos, and went to rest on the property of Don Luis Gilberto Cobarrubias; an illustrious citizen of the commune with a great participation in the progress of the city; from there they were resting for two to three days and then continued to Santiago. The property of the Cobarrubias family in colonial times, also served as a horse change station for the "diligences" that transported passengers to San Antonio.
Administration
Municipality
The Illustrious Municipality of Talagante is directed by the mayor Carlos Daniel Álvarez (PS), who is advised by the councilors:
Chile Come on
- Purest Macaya Vargas (RN)
- Andrés Llorente Elexpuru (UDI)
Democratic Socialism
- Fernando González Martínez (PRO)
- Sebastián Rosas Guerrero (PS)
- Ricardo Bravo Espinoza (PS)
- María Cartagena Toro (Ind pact pro PRO)
Parliamentary representation
Talagante is part of Electoral District No. 14 and belongs to the 7th Senatorial District (Metropolitan Region). According to the results of the 2021 Chilean parliamentary elections, Talagante is represented in the Chamber of Deputies of the National Congress by the following deputies in the period 2022-2026:
I approve of Dignity (2)
- Marisela Santibáñez (PCCh)
- Müller (Ind/AD)
Democratic Socialism (2)
- Raúl Leiva Carvajal (PS)
- Leonardo Soto Ferrada (PS)
Chile Come on (1)
- Juan Antonio Coloma Alamos (UDI)
Out of coalition:
- Juan Irarrázaval Rossel (PLR)
In turn, the Senate is represented by Fabiola Campillai Rojas (Ind), Claudia Pascual (PCCh), Luciano Cruz Coke (EVOP), Manuel José Ossandon (RN) and Rojo Edwards (PLR) in the period 2022-2030.
Economy
The economic activities of Talagante were based on agriculture, since there were many haciendas in said territory during the Colonial period. Pottery also flourished, and later, the textile company that has been declining.
With regard to handicrafts, the polychrome pottery from Talagante stands out, which arose at the beginning of the XX century from the hands of the sisters María and Luisa Jorquera Díaz, who, following the ancient technique of the Claras Nuns, began to make small figures that reproduce facts, allegories and characters from daily life at that time, such as the Quasimodo, the Pollero –a bird seller at horse-, the Organ Grinder, the Amasandera, the Laundress, among others. It is a very particular craft, made up of small pieces that do not exceed 20 centimeters, modeled by hand, bright and very colorful that recreate traditional images in great detail.
This tradition inherited by the Díaz Jorquera de Talagante Family continues to this day and this is how this beautiful Chilean artisan expression has been given as a gift to heads of state and dignitaries around the world. In fact, a "Quasimodo" in polychrome earthenware was received by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Chile in 1987, and in November 2007 President Michelle Bachelet brought a figure similar to the Roman Pontiff, Benedict XVI.
The main economic activity is given by the services area with the development and presence of 6 banks that are Banco Santander, Banco de Chile, Banco Desarrollo de Scotiabank, Banco Fallabella, Banco Estado and Bbva. Likewise, financial entities such as Coocretal and a development of national companies such as CMPC (paper mill), Viña Undurraga, Montina (Ariztia), Nutrabien, among others. One of the problems facing the commune is the growing economic concentration in sectors such as transport, pharmaceuticals and retail. Collective locomotion is controlled by the Talagante Fleet, which has given way to user complaints with accusations of monopoly, mistreatment of students, and arbitrary fixing of fares upon arrival and maintenance. In retail there are two large supermarket operators: Tottus supermarkets (ex-San Francisco, with 2 stores: Plaza and Cordillera) and Líder (a sales place), adding in 2011 the Econo supermarket chain and a Bigger store under construction. There are also shops like ABCDin, Dijón and Tricot. Meanwhile, in the pharmaceutical market, the fight at the national level between Cruz Verde (2 branches), Farmacias Ahumada (3 stores) and Salco Brand is repeated, leaving small pharmacists such as Farmacia del Sol, Farmacias San Juan, Dr. Simi, or Farmacias Serrano in Melipilla
In 2018, the number of companies registered in Talagante was 1,696. The Economic Complexity Index (ECI) in the same year was 1.03, while the economic activities with the highest Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index were Department Stores, Hardware and Home Products (103.02), Manufacture of Milkshakes, Beers and Malts (95.12) and Cultivation of Other Cereals (86.83).
In terms of employment, a high percentage of the population works outside the commune. First, a significant number of people move to Greater Santiago, where financial and educational services, among others, are concentrated. On the other hand, a large number of people carry out seasonal agricultural work on the farms and plots of other communes in the province such as Isla de Maipo, El Monte, Padre Hurtado, Peñaflor and within the same commune.
The commune has four radio stations. Two of them AM (Progreso and Manantial) and another two FM (Manantial FM and Contact.) The commercial activity is based on Bernardo O"Higgins street, where retail businesses congregate in four blocks. The commune is home to the Army Chemical Complex, where a series of substances used to make weapons and for other purposes are produced.
Since 2006, as a result of the publication of the Santiago Metropolitan Regulatory Plan (PRMS), which sets an important quota of hectares of urban growth and which initiates the development of the Communal Regulatory Plan, community organizations have emerged such as the Comité Advance for a Sustainable Talagante, which seeks to inform citizens of the effects of unregulated growth if it is not accompanied by works and services consistent with a growth of more than 200%. Likewise, support citizens in making them aware of how easy it is to fall into the fact that the economic powers of a few affect the lives of 60,000 inhabitants.
Services
Security
The Chilean Police and Security Forces are made up of the Chilean Carabineros and the Chilean Investigative Police. The territorial Police Unit of the PDI in the commune is the Talagante Criminal Investigation Brigade or BICRIM Talagante, with jurisdiction in the communes of Talagante, El Monte and Isla de Maipo, whose main function is to investigate crimes of a different nature at the local level. entrusted by the Courts of Justice and the Public Ministry, as well as receiving complaints, among other tasks. This Police Unit, like its peers, has internal groups, one of them dedicated to the investigation of drug trafficking in small quantities, called Microtraffic Zero Group or MT-0, in addition to having a Criminal Analysis Office.
Health
The commune has a recently inaugurated Primary Care Center, CESFAM (Dr. Alberto Allende Jones) divided into two parts, one located in the western sector of the commune and another in the central sector, and for its care Divided the commune into sectors for care in their respective Health Center. It also has the COSAM Talagante Mental Health Center. It also has the Talagante Hospital (Open Doors). The commune also has several medical centers.
Firefighters
The Talagante Fire Department was founded on April 13, 1945. It consists of three companies trained and organized to protect the commune:
- First Company "German Tenderini".
- Second Company "Bomba Arturo Prat".
- Third Company "Bomba Lonqúen".
Education
Sports
Its sports center is the Lucas Pacheco Toro Municipal Stadium, where the Third A Provincial Talagante sports club performs; There is also the Roberto Torres Miranda sports recreational gym where sports such as Taekwondo, artistic gymnastics, basketball, baby soccer, among others, are practiced. In addition, Talagante has another municipal enclosure; which is Tegualda pool where you can practice sports such as swimming and interactive games in it.
It has the Víctor Soto Bastías municipal gym.
It also has a Skatepark in the Octavio Leiva Park, where extreme sports such as Skateboarding, Bmx, among others, are performed.
Villages and towns
- East Sector
- Villa Loreto
- Villa Las Cadenas
- Villa Cordillera
- Villa Ensueño
- Villa Las Gredas
- Villa Puertas del Sol
- Villa Los Ciruelos
- Future Villa I II III
- Villa Ojos del Salado
- Villa Mirko Jozic
- Villa Invasa
- Villa El Araucano
- Condominio San Luis
- Villa Los Presidentes
- Sector centre
- Villa Monaco
- Villa Tocornal
- Villa Las Achiras
- Bernardo O ́Higgins
- Villa Elarre
- Population Parque Trebulco I II III
- Villa Niño Jesús
- Villa Carlos Droguett
- Villa Los Nogales
- Population Las Palmeras
- Population Maltese
- New Imperial Population
- Population Manuel Rodríguez
- Sector west
- Villa Esmeralda I II III IV V VI VII
- Population Clara Solovera
- Population Rolando Alarcón
- Villa Costanera Verde
- Villa Virginia
- Villa Las Hortensias
- Villa Pablo Neruda
- Population Los Lagos
- Population Tegualda chinches
- Villa Los Presidentes
- Villa Barrio Model
Media
Radio stations
- FM
- 102.9 MHz Radio Manantial
- 103.9 MHz Radio Contact
- 107.1 MHz Radio Presence
- 107.9 MHz Radio Renacer
- AM
- 1030 kHz Radio Progreso
- 1560 kHz Radio Manantial
Television
- VHF
- 2 - Telecanal.
- 4 - The Network
- 5 - TV+
- 7 - TVN
- 9 - Mega
- 11 - Chilevision
- 13 - Channel 13
- UHF
- 42 - UneteV
- 42 - TalaTV HD
- 42 - Old HD TV
Talagantine Character
Luchin Salvador