Matanzas is a coastal village famous for its beach, located in the commune of Navidad in the

O'Higgins Region The Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region ( es, Región del Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins, ), often shortened to O'Higgins Region ( es, Región de O'Higgins), is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It is subdi ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Location

Matanzas is located in the north west of Cardenal Caro Province,

, and forms part of the commune of

Navidad, Chile Navidad () is one of the six communes in Cardenal Caro Province, O'Higgins Region, Chile. It borders the commune of Santo Domingo (Valparaíso Region) and San Pedro (Santiago Metropolitan Region) in the north, the commune of Litueche to the east ...

. Is located 160 kilometres south of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

and 58 kilometres north of

Pichilemu Pichilemu (, ), originally known as Pichilemo, is a beach resort city and commune in central Chile, and capital of Cardenal Caro Province in the O'Higgins Region. The commune comprises an urban centre and twenty-two villages, including Ciruelo ...

History

Matanzas was a famous harbour during the time of the colonization of

, and was the place where part of the Spanish army responsible for the occupation of Chile’s Zona Central disembarked. The place was also frequented by

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

. The name "Matanzas" (Spanish for “slaughter” or “killing”) comes from the sea lion hunting and processing industry, which were used to provide oil and other goods. A local story tells of a visit from

Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 (t ...

, who disembarked and was well received in Matanzas. Another tells of a sunken Spanish galleon out off the coast.

Matanzas as a tourist destination

The beach at Matanzas is known for its fine grey sand and year-round windy weather, making it an ideal place to practice

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

, boogyboarding, stand up paddling,

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

and kitesurfing. Matanzas is also known for its rich fauna. The islets of Lobos and Pajaros provide a nesting ground for several bird species and the English scientist

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

discovered 31 species around Matanzas in his 1846 analysis of the

Navidad Formation Navidad Formation ( es, Formación Navidad) is a marine Neogene sedimentary formation located in Central Chile. The formation is known for its diverse and abundant fossil record and is considered the reference unit for the marine Neogene in Chil ...

. The area includes many species of

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

s that were last reviewed extensively by Philippi (1887).Sven N. Nielsen ''Cenozoic strombidae, aporrhaidae, and struthiolariidae (gastropoda: stromboidea) from Chile: their significance to the interpretation of southeast pacific biogeography and climate''. Journal of Paleontology, Volume 79, Issue 6 (November 2005),Article: pp. 1120–1130. Letter 932 — Darwin, C. R. to Sowerby, G. B., elder, Dec 1845/ref> There are basic services in Matanzas such as a school, hotels, cabins for rent and camp sites. Local industry is dominated by the farming of agriculture and livestock. Matanzas is growing as a tourist destination. With the expansion of the "Surazo" Hotel & Restaurant, many wealthy Chileans come here on the weekend.

External links

Letter 932 — Darwin to Sowerby, 1 Dec 1845
Darwin Correspondence Project

References

{{coord, 33, 57, 35.88, S, 71, 52, 17.63, W, display=title Beaches of Chile Populated coastal places in Chile Surfing locations in Chile Populated places in Cardenal Caro Province Landforms of O'Higgins Region Coasts of O'Higgins Region

Location

History

Matanzas as a tourist destination

External links

See also

References