Melirupu is a place in Arauco Province that is 12 kilometers to the Southwest of Arauco in the direction of Quiapo. It was a small village of about 300 inhabitants in the late 19th century the surrounding land had the same name. The

Mapudungun Mapuche (, Mapuche & Spanish: , or Mapudungun; from ' 'land' and ' 'speak, speech') is an Araucanian language related to Huilliche spoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from ''mapu'' 'land' and ''che ...

name, formed of and the alteration of , means "four ways", it later became known as ''Millarupu'' "gold way", and was corrupted into Millarapu or Millarapue or Melirupo. This place was one of the rehues of the Moluche aillarehue of Arauco and the site of the

Battle of Millarapue The Battle of Millarapue that occurred November 30, 1557 was intended by the Toqui Caupolicán as a Mapuche ambush of the Spanish army of García Hurtado de Mendoza that resulted in a Spanish victory when the ambush failed. History After the vic ...

where the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sha ...

Toqui

Caupolicán Caupolicán (meaning ‘polished flint’ (queupu) or ‘blue quartz stone’ (Kallfulikan) in Mapudungun) was a ''toqui'' or war leader of the Mapuche people, who led the resistance of his people against the Spanish Conquistadors who invaded the ...

was defeated after he assaulted the camp of Governor Don Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza on November 30, 1557.

Sources

Francisco Solano Asta-Buruaga y Cienfuegos, Diccionario geográfico de la República de Chile (Geographic dictionary of the Republic of Chile), Segunda Edición Corregida y Aumentada, Nueva York, D. Appleton y Compañía, 1899.
pp. 439-40 Geography of Biobío Region {{Biobío-geo-stub