Mancera Island ( es, Isla Mancera) is a minor island at the mouth of

Valdivia River The Valdivia River or Río Valdivia, as it is known locally, is a major river in southern Chile. It is the continuation of the Calle-Calle River, from the point where it meets the Cau-Cau River in the city of Valdivia. The Valdivia river ends in C ...

Corral Bay Corral Bay is a bay in the mouth of the Valdivia River, southern Chile. Its main towns are Corral and Niebla. The mouth of the bay is between Juan Latorre point and Morro Gonzalo, with a width of 5.5 km. All the year the bay is transited by ...

. Prior to being named after the Marquis of Mancera the island was known as ''Güiguacabin'' (from ''ühueñn'', "whistle", or ''ühua'', "maize", and ''cahuin'', "party") to the indigenous Mapuches. In his 1544 expedition

Juan Bautista Pastene 200px, Map showing the September 1544 expedition led by Pastene. Giovanni Battista Pastene (1507–1580) was a Genoese maritime explorer who, while in the service of the Spanish crown, explored the coasts of Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru ...

, made the island known for the Spanish and named it ''Imperial''. Later the island became known to the Spanish as ''Constantino'' after its owner Constantino Pérez, then it was known for a time as ''Santa Ines''. The name finally settled as Mancera after the Spanish

viceroy of Peru The viceroys of Peru ruled the Viceroyalty of Peru from 1544 to 1824 in the name of the monarch of Spain. The territories under ''de jure'' rule by the viceroys included in the 16th and 17th century almost all of South America except eastern Brazi ...

Pedro de Toledo, 1st Marquis of Mancera Pedro Álvarez de Toledo y Leiva, 1st Marquis of Mancera (c. 1585–1654), was a Spanish nobleman, general, colonial administrator, and diplomat. He served as Captain General of Galicia and Viceroy of Peru from December 18, 1639 to Septembe ...

, who ordered the fortification of the island. The fort in Mancera Island begun to be built in 1646 receiving the names ''Castillo de San Pedro de Alcántara de Mancera'' or simply ''Castillo de Mancera''. The fort was a vital point in the

Valdivian Fort System The Fort System of Valdivia ( es, Sistema de fuertes de Valdivia) is a series of Spanish colonial fortifications at Corral Bay, Valdivia and Cruces River established to protect the city of Valdivia, in southern Chile. During the period of Spani ...

, allowing with the aid of the forts in

Corral A pen is an enclosure for holding livestock. It may also perhaps be used as a term for an enclosure for other animals such as pets that are unwanted inside the house. The term describes types of enclosures that may confine one or many animal ...

and Niebla to

crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. ...

any ship attempting to sail upstream to the city of

Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and Cau-Cau R ...

. In 1682, after Valdivia was badly damaged by a fire it was proposed to move the city to Mancera Island. A similar proposal of moving the city to Mancera Island was done in 1721 in order to protect it against a potential British attack as Spain and Britain were at war. As result of the partial, and eventually reversed move of Valdivia to the island, in the 18th century Mancera Island achieved for a while an upsurge of population and the establishment of numerous buildings made of bricks and wood. At its height in the 18th century, the fort had twenty cannons and hosted one church and two

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

s. The decline in importance of Mancera Island in the fort system meant that by 1820, when Corral Bay was attacked by Patriots, it hosted only a small garrison and one battery of six cannons.Angulo, S.E. (1997). "La Artillería y los Artilleros en Chile. Valdivia y Chiloé como antemural del Pacífico". ''Militaria: revista de cultura militar'', 10, pp. 237-264 File:Fachada de iglesia franciscana en Mancera.jpg, Ruins of the Franciscan convent in the island File:Corralmancera.JPG, Position of Mancera Island in Corral Bay. View from Corral. File:Muelle_de_Mancera.JPG, Pier of Mancera Island

References

Islands of Los Ríos Region River islands of Chile Coasts of Los Ríos Region {{island-stub

See also

References