Chiloé wooden churches

A typical wooden church on the island of Chiloe

The wooden churches of Chiloé are churches on the Chilean island of Chiloé , which were mostly built from cypress wood in the 17th and 18th centuries . 16 churches have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2000 .

history

The island of Chiloé, whose native population consisted of Mapuche and Chono Indians , fell under Spanish rule in 1567 . In 1608 Jesuits , many of whom came from Bavaria , arrived on the island and began building churches. In 1612 the first church on the island was completed and missionary work on the island began. In the course of this, new wooden churches were built. After the Jesuits were expelled from the island in 1767, Franciscans continued their missionary work. The permanent Christianization of the island failed, but 150 wooden churches were preserved.

The oldest of the surviving wooden churches is on Quinchao Island and was built in 1740.

architecture

The peculiarity of the churches is the mixture of European and indigenous elements. The churches are mostly built on hills near the coast and the architecture has been adapted to local conditions. The churches were built from local larch and cypress wood and held together with wooden dowels instead of nails. The facades of the churches were often painted in bright colors. The interiors are also mostly colorful. The roofs of the churches are made of colored wooden shingles, some of which have been put together in a particularly artful way.

World Heritage

In 2000, UNESCO named 16 of the island's 150 wooden churches a World Heritage Site. These are distributed as follows:

Castro Municipality : Castro, Rilán, Nercón and Chelín

Chonchi Municipality : Chonchi and Vilupuili

Quemchi municipality : Tenaún and Colo

Dalcahue Parish: Dalcahue and San Juan
on Quinchao Island : Quinchao and Achao
on the island of Caguach: Caguach
on the island of Lemuy : Aldachildo, Ichuac and Detif

Web links

Commons : Wooden Churches of Chiloé - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Churches of Chiloé / Églises de Chiloé on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).

Individual evidence

^ Churches of Chiloé. UNESCO World Heritage Center, accessed October 23, 2017 .
^ Wooden churches of Chiloé | UNESCO World Heritage Site Chile | Chile travel with BCT-Touristik. Retrieved October 23, 2017 .
↑ Chiloé in the Pacific: Island of Trolls and Witches . In: Spiegel Online . October 17, 2007 ( spiegel.de [accessed October 23, 2017]).
↑ Wooden churches of Chiloe in Castro on Expedia.de. Retrieved October 23, 2017 .
↑ Unique cultural mix on the legendary Chilean archipelago Chiloé: The island of wooden churches | NZZ . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . October 18, 2007, ISSN 0376-6829 ( nzz.ch [accessed October 23, 2017]).
↑ Wooden churches of Chiloe: World cultural heritage in Chile. Retrieved October 23, 2017 .

[1] Churches of Chiloé. UNESCO World Heritage Center, accessed October 23, 2017 .

[2] Wooden churches of Chiloé | UNESCO World Heritage Site Chile | Chile travel with BCT-Touristik. Retrieved October 23, 2017 .

[3] Chiloé in the Pacific: Island of Trolls and Witches . In: Spiegel Online . October 17, 2007 ( spiegel.de [accessed October 23, 2017]).

[4] Wooden churches of Chiloe in Castro on Expedia.de. Retrieved October 23, 2017 .

[5] Unique cultural mix on the legendary Chilean archipelago Chiloé: The island of wooden churches | NZZ . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . October 18, 2007, ISSN 0376-6829 ( nzz.ch [accessed October 23, 2017]).

[6] Wooden churches of Chiloe: World cultural heritage in Chile. Retrieved October 23, 2017 .