Pisagua
Coordinates: 19 ° 36 ′ S , 70 ° 13 ′ W
Pisagua is a fishing port in the commune of Huara , the Región de Tarapacá , in northern Chile . The place is about 50 km west of the Panamericana and is rarely reached by public transport.
Pisagua was originally one of the main export ports for saltpetre . With the end of mining, the city began to decline. Today only about 300 people live in the largely deserted city, of whose former heyday the preserved, wooden town theater still reminds us. The city's energy supply is now only provided by emergency power generators. There is practically no tourism, despite the wide Pacific beach.
The city was conquered by Chilean troops on November 2, 1879 during the Saltpeter War and after the Treaty of Ancón in 1883, Peru went to Chile. A national memorial commemorates this event.
Because of its location on the edge of the Atacama Desert and the great distance to other cities, the region around Pisagua was used several times for the construction of prison camps. Peruvian prisoners of war were interned there during the Saltpeter War . In 1946 the Chilean President Gabriel González Videla set up a concentration camp for political opponents for the first time . Also during the Pinochet regime in 1973 and 1974 there was a concentration camp in Pisagua, in which numerous political opponents of the government were imprisoned and tortured.
Buildings
With the exception of the bell tower of Pisagua, which is protected as a "National Monument", the historical structure of the site is extremely endangered (especially the theater) or has largely disappeared. The former size of the city of tens of thousands of inhabitants is no longer recognizable today. The place looks more like a small fishing village.
Others
The city gave its name to the sailing ship Pisagua of the German shipping company Ferdinand Laeisz . It was one of the then famous Flying-P-Liners , which also included the Passat and Pamir .
Picture gallery
Abandoned houses in Pisagua
Former train station - remains of the concentration camp on the right
Punta Pichalo
Old graveyard
