Cueva de los Pincheira is a shallow cave located about southeast of

Chillán Chillán () is the capital city of the Ñuble Region in the Diguillín Province of Chile located about south of the country's capital, Santiago, near the geographical center of the country. It is the capital of the new Ñuble Region since 6 Sept ...

, in

Ñuble Region The Ñuble Region ( es, Región de Ñuble), officially the Region of Ñuble ( es, Región de Ñuble), is — since 5 September 2018 – one of Chile's sixteen regions. It spans an area of , making it the smallest region in Chile in terms of area ...

Central Chile Central Chile (''Zona central'') is one of the five natural regions into which CORFO divided continental Chile in 1950. It is home to a majority of the Chilean population and includes the three largest metropolitan areas—Santiago, Valparaís ...

. The cave is famous for being a hideout of the

Pincheira brothers The Pincheira brothers (Spanish: ''Hermanos Pincheira'') was an infamous royalist outlaw group in Chile and Argentina active from 1818 to 1832. The gang fought initially in the Chilean War of Independence as royalist guerrillas during the Guerr ...

, a

royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

outlaw gang. During high season there are reenactments in the cave. The cave lies in the foothills of the Andes near . In the 1820s the cave was one of the Pincheira brothers main encampments together with other locations also close to Chillán. Up to a thousand people are reported to have gathered at the site during the heydays of the Pincheira brothers.Arnaboldi, Teresa (2011)
"La reivindicación de los Pincheira"
Revista ''Hacer Familia'', n.º 186. October 13, 2011. Retrieved January 31, 2014. Local lore says that a white mule appears during the night in the small waterfall of the cave. Allegedly, this mule shows the route to the hidden treasures of the Pincheira brothers. It is also said that just before morning a cart can be heard near the cave; additionally, there are sayings that the cries of women have been heard together with the cart. The sayings explain that these are the cries of the women kept captive by the outlaws.

References

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Pincheira The Pincheira brothers (Spanish: ''Hermanos Pincheira'') was an infamous royalist outlaw group in Chile and Argentina active from 1818 to 1832. The gang fought initially in the Chilean War of Independence as royalist guerrillas during the Guerr ...

Landforms of Ñuble Region Chilean legends Caves used for hiding Rock shelters Tourist attractions in Ñuble Region