Country Chile Province Quillota Elevation 462 m (1,516 ft) Area 302 km² Local time Tuesday 12:52 PM | Region Valparaíso Founded November 11, 1717 Demonym(s) Quillotan Population 85,262 (2012) Team San Luis de Quillota | |
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Weather 23°C, Wind W at 13 km/h, 63% Humidity | ||
Quillota is a city located in the Aconcagua River valley of central Chile's Valparaíso Region. It is the capital and largest city of the Quillota Province where many inhabitants live in the surrounding farm areas of San Isidro, La Palma, Pocochay, and San Pedro. It is an important agricultural center, mainly because the plantations of avocado and cherimoya (custard apple) trees.
Contents
- Map of Quillota ValparaC3ADso Chile
- History
- Demographics
- City planning
- Administration
- Schools and Universities
- Tourism
- References
Map of Quillota, Valpara%C3%ADso, Chile
Quillota is connected with the city of La Calera by the small town of La Cruz. The area's agriculture and landscape was described by Charles Darwin in his book The Voyage of the Beagle. Nearby La Campana National Park holds a plaque at a viewpoint Darwin once visited.
Quillota is 120 kilometres (75 mi) from the national capital Santiago and 60 km (37 mi) from the regional capital Valparaíso.
History
The Quillota valley has been densely populated for about 2,000 years. At the outset, the area was inhabited by Native Americans of the Bato and Lleo-Lleo cultures, who had migrated to the valley because of the fertile land south of the Aconcagua River. These natives where later influenced by Mapuches and Diaguitas. The Diaguitas are credited with the evolution of the local culture of the Aconcagua zone and were well known for their pottery.
Later, Quillota was mitimae and the capital of Qullasuyu, the southern Inca Empire.
Diego de Almagro arrived in the valley in 1536. Incan scouts directed him to a beautiful and very fertile valley where the "Quillotas" lived. (Even before Almagro's arrival, a Spanish soldier from Peru called Don Gonzalo Calvo de Barrientos had been captured by the Quillotas and lived in the valley, learning the local language and culture during his captivity.)
Almagro was delighted with the valley, but as he was searching for gold and found none he returned to Peru. Almagro crossed the valley of Quillota and its environs. And having found the Aconcagua river overflowed and with few possibilities of finding gold, he deemed the land too difficult and returned to Peru, where he was executed.
Later, in 1540, Pedro de Valdivia arrived in Chile with the title of Governor of Chile. He arrived in the valley and built farms and houses, mainly for the slaves and the Indians who were working for him. Almost the whole area occupied by present-day Quillota was Valdivia's property.
De Valdivia established here his fortress between San Pedro and Limache, extracting gold from La Campana mountain and cultivating the Rautén valley, La Palma, Boco and take for himself all the area as his personal property, leaving the Mapocho valley as capital when he founded Santiago.
After the conquest and during the Colonial period, population was increasing with the mix of races (Spaniards and Aconcaguas) and culture.
Until 1585, Quillota was declared a corregimiento, and it was the main place of a large province between Illapel and Casablanca.
In the 16th century were some tries to founding in the Quillota valley a village with all features and requirements ordered by Spanish kingdom, but it did not succeed.
It was only on November 11, 1717, St. Martin's Day, that Quillota was founded as a city, originally named "Village of San Martin de la Concha of Quillota" in the valley bordering Mayaca Hill. The city was founded by the bishop, Luis Romero, and the governor, Don José de Santiago Concha y Salvatierra.
Demographics
According to data from the 2002 Census of Population and Housing, Quillota had 75,916 inhabitants; of these, 66,025 (87.0%) lived in urban areas and 9,891 (13.0%) in rural areas. At that time, there were 37,191 men and 38,725 women.
A large part of Quillota's population is descendants of Spanish settlers and Mestizos. There are still a few families with lands in the valley given by the Spanish governors.
City planning
Quillota's motto is "Ciudad creada con cariño" meaning "City created with care". Quillota remains one of the most traditional cities in Chile in that its layout still mainly corresponds to the original colonial Spanish layout of seven blocks square. Due to the geological composition of the ground and the frequency of earthquakes, its architecture has remained low-rise (with a four-story maximum) and traditional. Today, the commune spans an area of 302 km2 (117 sq mi).
Given its fertile soil, its commune's economy is mainly agricultural, and it is one of the main produce centers in the country.
Administration
As a commune, Quillota is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal council, headed by an alcalde who is directly elected every four years. The 2008-2012 alcalde is Luis Alberto Mella Gajardo (DC). The municipal council has the following members:
Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Quillota is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by Mr. Eduardo Cerda (PDC) and Mrs. Andrea Molina (UDI) as part of the 10th electoral district, (together with La Ligua, Petorca, Cabildo, Papudo, Zapallar, Puchuncaví, Quintero, Nogales, Calera, La Cruz and Hijuelas). The commune is represented in the Senate by Ignacio Walker Prieto (PDC) and Lily Pérez San Martín (RN) as part of the 5th senatorial constituency (Valparaíso-Cordillera).
Schools and Universities
The city is well endowed with educational facilities, for primary and secondary education. Given its agricultural importance in the country, many universities of the region have established their agricultural studies faculties here. The following is a list of some of these facilities:
Tourism
Within the tourism sector we find places of entertainment open to the general public, such as: 4