Chilotan architecture is a unique

architectural style An architectural style is a set of characteristics and features that make a building or other structure notable or historically identifiable. It is a sub-class of style in the visual arts generally, and most styles in architecture relate closely ...

that is mainly restricted to the

Chiloé Archipelago The Chiloé Archipelago ( es, Archipiélago de Chiloé, , ) 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 an ...

and neighboring areas of southern

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 eas ...

. These buildings have been designated a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

History

Chiloé, in part because of its physical isolation from the rest of Chile and access to different materials, has a unique colonial architecture that differs substantially from typical Chilean Spanish colonial architecture. ;Spanish colonial churches The Spanish, who arrived in the 16th century and their Jesuit missionaries who followed, constructed hundreds of small wooden churches as part of the

Indian Reductions Reductions ( es, reducciones, also called ; , pl. ) were settlements created by Spanish rulers and Roman Catholic missionaries in Spanish America and the Spanish East Indies (the Philippines). In Portuguese-speaking Latin America, such ...

mandated by the Crown for

Spanish colonization of the Americas Spain began colonization of the Americas, colonizing the Americas under the Crown of Castile and was spearheaded by the Spanish . The Americas were invaded and incorporated into the Spanish Empire, with the exception of Colonial Brazil, Braz ...

. The result was a mixing of

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and indigenous Chilean beliefs. ;Houses and buildings Nearly all the houses and buildings in colonial Chiloe were built with wood, and

wooden shingle Wood shingles are thin, tapered pieces of wood primarily used to cover roof shingle, roofs and walls of buildings to protect them from the weather. Historically roof shingle, shingles, also known as shakes, were split from straight grained, kno ...

s were extensively employed. The roof shingles of

Fitzroya ''Fitzroya'' is a Monotypic taxon, monotypic genus in the Cupressaceae, cypress family. The single living species, ''Fitzroya cupressoides'', is a tall, long-lived Pinophyta, conifer native to the Andes mountains and coastal of southern Chile, a ...

came to be used as money and called ''

Real Real may refer to: Currencies * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Music Albums * ''Real'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel album) (2000) * ''Real'' (Bright album) (201 ...

de Alerce''. In the late 19th century many '' palafitos'', or

stilt house Stilt houses (also called pile dwellings or lake dwellings) are houses raised on stilts (or piles) over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Stilt houses are built primarily as a protection against flooding; they also keep out vermin. The ...

s, were built in cities such as Castro and Chonchi.

External links

Unesco World Heritage Site - The Churches of Chiloe
Architecture in Chile Architectural styles Chiloé Archipelago Colonial architecture in Chile {{arch-style-stub

History

See also

External links