Ichuac

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ichuac is a village on the island of Lemuy , in the south of Chile in the Región de los Lagos, in front of the larger island of Chiloé in the east, with a church that has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO .

Church Virgen de Candelaria in Ichuac

location

Ichuac, which lies on the north coast of the hilly island of Lemuy, forms the municipality ( Comuna ) Puqueldón with eight other localities with 4,160 inhabitants (2002), whose area covers the entire island with its 97 km² area. The distance to Puqueldón, the largest town on the island and seat of the municipal administration, is 5 km to the east.

history

Ichuac was mentioned as a locality of the indigenous population with a chapel as early as 1754 and was at times the largest of originally four villages on the island of Lemuy. A census in 1787 gave a total of 1,395 inhabitants for the places Ichuac, Puqueldón and Aldachildo , and in 1790 343 people lived in Ichuac alone.

Worth seeing

Ichuac, which had a chapel as early as 1754, is known for its beautiful wooden church Iglesia Virgen de Candelaria . The church was built in a neoclassical style towards the end of the 19th century, using mainly cypress and larch wood in its construction . As is common with all wooden churches on the islands of Lemuy and Chiloé, rivets made of wood were not used in the construction of the church in Ichuac, as metal was very scarce on the islands of Chiloé and Lemuy.

The three-aisled church is 32 m long and 13 m wide. It has an 18 m high gable top with a tent roof , which - as in the case of the church in Detif on Isla Lemuy - is relatively compact and divided into two parts. As is typical for the wooden churches of their kind, the wooden church in Ichuac also has a portico with arches in the area of ​​the facade . In this case there are five arches, two of which are pointed arches. In the area of ​​the portico, the church in Ichuac has three entrances with doors carved out of wood - one for each of the three naves, as is common with most of the other wooden churches on the islands of Lemuy and Chiloé. In the area of ​​the portico there is a clock that shows 3:00 pm - the presumed time of Jesus' death on Good Friday. On the outside of the portico, there is an unusual frieze made of carved stars. Inside the church, two paintings of the namesake Virgen de la Candelaria (1.02 m tall) and the Archangel Michael (88 cm), restored in 1997, are particularly noteworthy.

The tower was rebuilt in 1950. In 1980 the church was restored, especially in the area of ​​the aisles. On 10 August 1999, the church was declared a national cultural monument before in the end of November 2000 World Heritage of UNESCO was taken. Another renovation took place in 2004 - late 2005.

The church's patronage feast is celebrated with a procession on February 2nd each year. The parish belongs to the diocese of San Carlos de Ancud .

Transport connections and infrastructure

The island of Lemuy can be easily reached from Chonchi on the larger island of Chiloé with an hourly ferry, the crossing only takes a few minutes.

From Chulchuy, the Lemuys ferry port located 3 km from Ichuac, a good asphalt road leads via Ichuac to Puqueldón , the administrative center of the municipality. Several times a day buses run between the places on the island, a few times a day there is even a direct connection to Castro , the capital of the province of Chiloé. The nearest airport is in Puerto Montt on the Chilean mainland.

Agriculture - above all cattle breeding - and fishing are the main sources of income for the population of Lemuy Island and thus also of Ichuac. There are several farms around the village. Ichuac also has shops for daily needs and a school.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Juan Mancilla Pérez: Pueblos de Chiloé , p. 52. Castro 2008
  2. ↑ Juan Mancilla Pérez: Pueblos de Chiloé , p. 54. Castro 2008
  3. ↑ Dominique Verhasselt: Archipielago Chiloé - el encanto de una isla misteriosa , p. 39. Santiago de Chile undated ISBN 978-956-7136-53-7
  4. ↑ Susanne Asal: Chile with Easter Island , p. 200. Ostfildern 2007
  5. ↑ Jorge Sánchez R .: Chiloé - tradición y cultura , p. 43. Santiago de Chile 2006. ISBN 956-309-024-1
  6. ↑ Juan Mancilla Pérez: Pueblos de Chiloé , p. 55. Castro 2008

Web links

Commons : Holzkirchen von Chiloé  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 42 ° 37 ′ 0.9 ″  S , 73 ° 43 ′ 10.5 ″  W.