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Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaíso
| Site number: | 959 |
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| Type of site: | Cultural | |
| Date: | 19th-century | |
| Date of Inscription: | 2003 | |
| Location: | South America, Chile, Fifth Region, Province Valparaíso | |
| Documents: |
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| Description: | Late 19th-century urban and architectural development within Latin America perfectly manifests itself in the colonial city of Valparaíso. The city, with its natural amphitheatre-like setting, is set apart by its hillside adapted urban fabric (dotted with a countless different church spires) which contrasts with the plain where a geometrical layout was utilized. Interesting early industrial infrastructures have been preserved by the city, retaining examples such as numerous steep hillside ‘elevators’. --WHMNet paraphrase from the description at WHC Site, where additional information is available. | |
| Valparaíso is Chile’s most important seaport and an increasingly vital cultural center. The city is located in central Chile, where it is capital of the Region of Valparaíso. Although Santiago is Chile's official capital, Valparaiso houses the National Congress. Built upon dozens of steep hillsides overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Valparaíso boasts a labyrinth of streets and cobblestone alleyways, embodying a rich architectural and cultural legacy. Valparaíso is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is often considered to be one of Latin America’s most intriguing urban areas. Valparaiso like most of Chile is vulnerable to earthquakes. The last major earthquake to strike the city directly was in 1906 which devastated the city and killed nearly 20,000 people. --Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. | ||
| Source: | http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/959 | |
| Reference: | 1. UNESCO World Heritage Center, Site Page. | |