Constitución (Chile)
 
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Constitución is a city in the center of Chile , which lies directly on the Pacific . It belongs to the Región del Maule and in 2002 had around 45,000 inhabitants. Constitución was one of the places in the country hardest hit by the earthquake of February 27, 2010 .
geography
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The port city of Constitución is located around 100 km west of Talca at the mouth of the Río Maule in the Pacific.
history
In pre-Columbian times, the Río Maule possibly formed the border between the Inca Empire and the settlement areas of the Mapuche for a time . Diego de Almagro sent his follower Gómez de Alvarado south in 1536. Up to the Río Maule they met hardly any resistance. On the Río Itata they were involved in heavy fighting with the Mapuche and had to withdraw.
In 1544 an expedition led by Francisco de Villagra and Pedro de Valdivia reached the area again. A small fort was built at the mouth of the river. This was later the starting point for Juan Bautista Pastene's expeditions towards the Strait of Magellan .
Settlement began around 1578 when naval captain Juan Jufré built a small boatyard at the mouth of the Río Maule. The city was founded in 1793 under the then name Nueva Bilbao de Gardoqui on the property of Josefa de Olivares.
During the California gold rush in 1848, around 30,000 Chileans came to Constitución via the Río Maule in order to come to the USA.
On May 22, 1960, the city was badly damaged by the Valdivia earthquake and the subsequent tsunami .
A similar scenario occurred during the severe earthquake on February 27, 2010, the epicenter of which was only 60 kilometers south of the city. Large parts of the districts close to the Pacific were destroyed by the high tidal wave of the tsunami immediately following the quake, hundreds of people died when the flat island of Isla Orrego off the mouth and heavily used by tourists was completely flooded by the tsunami. Only the poor neighborhoods on the slopes were spared.
Attractions
The city is surrounded by long black beaches made of lava , but the environment is damaged by cellulose production. The Río Maule is ideal for river trips by canoe and kayak. Some sections of the river are ideal for rafting .
25 km north of Constitución are the Putú sand dunes , these huge dunes stretch for kilometers.
A tourist attraction is the Talca-Constitución passenger train , which mostly runs along the Maule River from Talca to Constitución. The Federico Albert National Reserve is 50 km south of the city near Chanco .
Every year in February the Semana Maulina is celebrated with many artists and the traditional night Noche Veneciana .
economy
Constitución is one of the most important locations for cellulose production in Chile. There are large pine and eucalyptus plantations around the city .
See also
Web links
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- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8540522.stm
- ↑ Chile after the quake: More than a hundred survivors buried under high-rise rubble. In: Spiegel Online . February 28, 2010, accessed June 10, 2018 .
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8541546.stm
Coordinates: 35 ° 20 ′ S , 72 ° 25 ′ W