Tenaún is a Chilean village within the commune of

Dalcahue Dalcahue is a port city and a commune in Chiloé Province, on Chiloé Island, Los Lagos Region, Chile. Demographics According to the 2002 census by the National Statistics Institute, the Dalcachue commune spans an area of and had 10,693 inhab ...

, on

Chiloé Island Chiloé Island (, , ), also known as Greater Island of Chiloé (''Isla Grande de Chiloé''), is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the west coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean. The island is located in southern Chile, in the Los L ...

Chiloé Archipelago The Chiloé Archipelago (, , ) is a group of islands lying off the coast of Chile, in the Los Lagos Region. It is separated from mainland Chile by the Chacao Channel in the north, the Sea of Chiloé in the east and the Gulf of Corcovado in the s ...

. It is located about 36 kilometers from

, 28 kilometers from

Quemchi Quemchi is a Chilean town and commune in Los Lagos Region, in Chiloé Province, on the eastern shore of Chiloé Island. It acquired reputation because the famous Chilean writer Francisco Coloane was born near the town. The town is served by Q ...

and 54 kilometers from Castro. The town of Tenaún is accessed from the north, by a road that begins on the route between Dalcahue and Quemchi. This land route, built in 1950, allowed the integration of the town to the rest of the island. The town of Tenaún was founded in the 18th century, being one of the oldest in Chiloé. It was part of the larch trade route and since its inception was an intermediate port between Chacao and Castro. In the 19th century, it experienced an urban boom as a result of logging that favored its development. Thanks to the historical relevance of the forest trade is that many of the houses of the town were built with larch coatings. The urban landscape is composed of the edge-sea, a longitudinal plane parallel to the coastline. The urban order of the town has as axes: the church, the square and the cemetery, in east-west direction. The church of Tenaún, built in the mid-nineteenth century, is located at the end of the main street and in front of the square, it is the most imposing construction of the town, it stands out for its three towers and because it protrudes from the axis, which allows its vision from afar, mainly from the sea. The year 1999 was declared a National Historic Monument and the year 2000 a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The elongated square is another of the emblems of the city, made up of two facades that form a recognizable group with their own identity, marking a boundary between the high houses, which face the hill, and the low ones that face the sea. One of the most deeply rooted traditions in this town is the Minga, which consists in the transfer of houses through the sea or land. In the area, this tradition has a social event of great participation that favors interaction and community sense strongly rooted in Chiloe identity.

History

The word Tenaún means "three hills" in the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...

Huilliche language Huilliche (which can also be found spelt Williche, Huiliche or Veliche) is a moribund branch of the Araucanian language family. In 1982 it was spoken by about 2,000 ethnic Huilliche people in Chile, but now hen?it is only spoken by a few elderl ...

, the language of the ancient

Huilliche The Huilliche (), Huiliche or Huilliche-Mapuche are the southern partiality of the Mapuche macroethnic group in Chile and Argentina. Located in the Zona Sur, they inhabit both Futahuillimapu ("great land of the south") and, as the Cunco or Ve ...

inhabitants of the sector. It was founded in 1567, the year in which the

Spanish conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

, led by

Martín Ruiz de Gamboa Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * Mart ...

, settled in Chiloé after founding Castro. The village emerged as a town of merchants who extracted

larch Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to the cooler regions of the northern hemisphere, where they are found in lowland forests in the high la ...

from the Chauques Islands. The town maintains its original characteristics and is recognized as a focus of permanence of the Chilote traditions. By virtue of its cultural value, on November 5, 2004 it was declared a National Monument in the category of a Typical Zone. On September 4, 2015, Tenaún was declared an Urban Zone by the Municipality of Dalcahue.

Attractions

Tenaún is characterized by the style of its houses, some of them neo-colonial style with German influence, while others are lined with

tiles. Several of the latter were taken to Tenaún by land and even by sea, through the traditional Chilote system known as the minga of house plowing, to such an extent that the place is known as "the town where the houses sail". Its church, called Nuestra Señora del Patrocinio, is a

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

(1999) and was declared a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

in 2000, along with the other churches of Chiloé. It was built in 1837 by

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

priest Roberto Fernández, and later was renovated in a

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

, with a main tower and two smaller towers on each side, which could reflect the three hills of Tenaún or the mystery of the

Holy Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...

. Every summer the Meeting of the Cords of the Accordion is celebrated, an activity of great importance because the place is known for the importance of the artists of the area that participate in this festival, as is the week of Tenaún, where for 7 days there are activities for neighbors, tourists and people interested in participating to commemorate a new anniversary of Tenaún.

References

{{reflist Populated places in Chiloé Province Populated coastal places in Chile Populated places established in 1567 1567 establishments in the Captaincy General of Chile Fishing communities