Cerro Santa Lucía
The Cerro Santa Lucía is a small, 69 meters high (629 meters above sea level) hill and park in the middle of the Chilean capital Santiago .
history
Before the conquest of the area by Pedro de Valdivia on December 13, 1540, the hill was called Huelén . In the language of the natives of this area, the Picunche , this name means " pain, sadness or sadness ".
When the conquerors arrived in the Mapocho Valley , they used the "Huelén" as a watchtower and founded the city of Santiago del Nuevo Extremo there on February 12, 1541 - today's Chilean capital, Santiago.
During the " Reconquista " (1814–1817), General Francisco Casimiro Marcó del Pont (the last Spanish governor of the General Capitanate of Chile ) commanded the construction of two protective batteries on Cerro Santa Lucía in 1820 : Marcó and Castillo Hidalgo.
Already in the 19th century and as part of a beautification plan for Santiago, especially in preparation for the “100th anniversary of the Chilean Republic”, the fortress structures on the “Santa Lucía” were razed with the help of Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna : footpaths, a chapel on the top of the hill , built several wells and bay windows and finally planted some trees so that the hill has a park-like character today.
Over the years it has become a tradition that a cannon shot goes out from the hill over the capital at noon. In the meantime, the Cerro Santa Lucía, the nucleus of the Chilean capital, has been named a national monument on December 16, 1939.
Others
On the Cerro Santa Lucía there is a 2 meter high stone monument depicting the letter that Pedro de Valdivia wrote to Emperor Charles V on September 4, 1545. In this letter he describes the beautiful landscape of the newly conquered country. In addition to the footpath, there is also an elevator up the hill.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Luis de Cartagena: Actas del Cabildo de Santiago de 1541 a 1557 . In: Colección de historiadores de Chile y de documentos relativos a la historia nacional . Tomo 1. Impr. Del Ferrocarril, Santiago de Chile 1861, p. 67 ( Memoria Chilena - Documentos ).
Coordinates: 33 ° 26 ′ S , 70 ° 39 ′ W