Cauquenes
 
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Cauquenes is a city in the middle of the South American Andean state of Chile . It is located in the Región del Maule , Province of Cauquenes and has 41,200 inhabitants (as of 2005).
geography
Cauquenes is about 155 km southeast of Talca . The cities of Linares and Parral are about 90 km to the east. The city lies between the Río Tutuvén and Río Cauquenes .
The climate is Mediterranean with warm summers.
history
The native people of Promaucaes del Maule lived in the area . The writer Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga described them as a well-organized and fighting people in the Arauco war with the Spanish around 1558.
The city was founded on May 9, 1742 as Villa de Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes Manso del Tutuván by Governor José Antonio Manso de Velasco . The areas were made available by the Kaziken Cacique Ascencio Galdámez y Quiñante and his wife Micaela de Araya.
The name of the city was later changed to Cauquenes. The origin of the name is not very clear, it probably derives from the people of the Cauques , who once lived there.
Attractions
The city consists of a number of old buildings that were built in the 19th century. There is a large modern market in town where you can buy handicrafts.
50 km northwest of the city is the Federico Albert national reserve with 14.5 km². The forest area was created around 1900 on the Pacific to prevent the Chanco sand dunes from spreading inland.
30 km west of the city is the Los Ruiles national reserve with 4.5 km². It is a wooded, mountainous landscape.
economy
The area is best known for its viticulture and forestry.
The city lies on the Panamericana .
sons and daughters of the town
- José Mercedes Ortega (1856–1933), painter
- Omar Cáceres (1904–1943), poet
- Enrique Alvear Urrutia (1916–1982), bishop
See also
Web links
Coordinates: 35 ° 58 ′ S , 72 ° 20 ′ W