List of World Heritage Sites in Chile

Churches of Chiloé

Valparaíso

Humberstone and Santa Laura

Sewell

Chinchorro mummies

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Location of World Heritage Sites in Chile. Rapa Nui National Park, located 3,700 km (2,300 mi) west of the coast in the Pacific Ocean, is outside of the map. The sites of the Inca road system, with 33 locations in Chile, are also not shown on the map.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972.^[1] Cultural heritage consists of monuments (such as architectural works, monumental sculptures, or inscriptions), groups of buildings, and sites (including archaeological sites). Natural features (consisting of physical and biological formations), geological and physiographical formations (including habitats of threatened species of animals and plants), and natural sites which are important from the point of view of science, conservation or natural beauty, are defined as natural heritage.^[2] Chile accepted the convention on 20 February 1980, making its sites eligible for inclusion on the list.^[3]

There are seven World Heritage Sites in Chile, and a further 17 sites on its tentative list. The first site added to the list was the Rapa Nui National Park, which was listed in 1995. The most recent site listed was the Settlement and Artificial Mummification of the Chinchorro Culture in the Arica and Parinacota Region, in 2021.^[3] All sites in Chile are listed for their cultural significance. Qhapaq Ñan, Andean Road System is a transnational site and is shared with Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works was listed as endangered between 2005 (immediately upon the listing) and 2019 because of the vulnerable state of the buildings.^[4] Chile has served on the World Heritage Committee once.^[3]

UNESCO lists sites under ten criteria; each entry must meet at least one of the criteria. Criteria i through vi are cultural, and vii through x are natural.^[5]

World Heritage Sites

Site	Image	Location (region)	Year listed	UNESCO data	Description
Rapa Nui National Park		Valparaíso	1995	715; i, iii, v (cultural)	Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, is located 3,700 km (2,300 mi) off the coast of Chile. The volcanic island was settled around 300 by a group from Polynesia who then developed a unique culture, free of external influences. Between the 10th and 16th centuries, they built monumental shrines and massive stone statues, moai (some statues pictured). The society collapsed due to a combination of ecological crisis with depletion of natural resources and the effects of colonization. The national park covers around 40% of the island and comprises numerous archaeological sites.[6]
Churches of Chiloé		Los Lagos	2000	971bis; ii, iii (cultural)	This site comprises 16 churches in the Chiloé Archipelago. The Jesuits arrived to the islands in the early 17th century as missionaries and were later replaced by the Franciscans in the 18th and 19th centuries. The churches represent a fusion of European and vernacular traditions, in a unique Chilotan style. They are entirely made of timber and their construction was strongly influenced by boat-building techniques. They still play an important role in the life and culture of the islands. A minor boundary modification took place in 2019. The Church of Nercón is pictured.[7]
Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaíso		Valparaíso	2003	959rev; iii (cultural)	The Pacific port city of Valparaíso flourished in the 19th century when it was an important stop on the route to the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Magellan. Following the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, it declined in importance. This helped to preserve its late 19th and early 20th century architecture and technical heritage. The city layout is shaped by the geographical setting between the ocean and the hills in the background. There are numerous historical funiculars taking people up the slopes. The Cerro Concepción neighbourhood is pictured.[8]
Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works		Tarapaca	2005	1178ter; ii, iii, iv (cultural)	Humberstone (pictured) and Santa Laura are two former saltpeter (sodium nitrate) refineries, representative of more than 200 similar sites in the desert region with world's largest deposit of the mineral that is used to produce fertilizers. The fertilizers contributed to the agricultural revolution worldwide and brought a great wealth to Chile. Between the 1870s and mid-20th century, thousands of workers from Chile, Bolivia, and Peru lived and worked in the plants. They developed a unique Pampinos culture with its own language, customs, and artistic expression. Their struggles for social justice had far-reaching effects on the labour laws in Chile and beyond. Immediately upon the inscription, the site was listed as endangered because of the vulnerable state of the buildings, which were further weakened by the 2014 earthquake. Upon the introduction of the protective measures, the site was removed from the endangered list in 2019. Minor boundary modifications were done in 2011 and 2019.[9][4]
Sewell Mining Town		O'Higgins	2006	1214; ii (cultural)	Sewell Mining Town is an example of a company mining town constructed at a remote locality by the fusion of local communities and international resources from industrialized nations. It was constructed in 1905 by the US mining Braden Copper Company to house the workers of El Teniente, the world's largest underground copper mine. The town is located on steep mountain slopes at an elevation above 2,200 m (7,200 ft), in a harsh climate. In the late 1960s, at its peak, it housed 15,000 people. It was largely abandoned in the 1970s. [10]
Qhapaq Ñan, Andean Road System*		several sites	2014	1459; ii, iii, iv, vi (cultural)	Qhapaq Ñan is an extensive pre-Incan and Incan road system, spanning over 30,000 km (19,000 mi) across the Andes. The roads connect high mountain peaks with rainforests, coasts, valleys, and deserts. The road system formed the lifeline of the Inca Empire, allowing transport and exchange of goods, as well as movement of messengers, travelers, and even armies. The site comprises 273 components featuring structures such as roads, bridges, ditches, and supporting infrastructure, 33 of which are in Chile. The site is shared with Argentina (a section pictured), Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.[11]
Settlement and Artificial Mummification of the Chinchorro Culture in the Arica and Parinacota Region		Atacama, Antofagasta, Arica y Parinacota	2021	1634; iii, v (cultural)	This property comprises three archaeological sites with the remains of marine hunter-gatherer communities that lived in the area from c. 5450 BCE to c. 890 BCE. The culture is best known for their mummies which present the oldest examples of artificial mummification in the world. Some bodies mummified naturally while others were disassembled and reassembled to create mummies of particular aesthetics, indicating the special role of the dead in the culture. Mummies are well preserved because of the extremely dry climate of the Atacama Desert. In addition, shell middens and tools made of shell and bone were found. A museum exhibit is pictured. [12]

In addition to sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, member states can maintain a list of tentative sites that they may consider for nomination. Nominations for the World Heritage List are only accepted if the site was previously listed on the tentative list.^[13] Chile has 17 properties on its tentative list.^[3]

Tentative sites

Site	Image	Location (region)	Year listed	UNESCO criteria	Description
Ayquina and Toconce		Antofagasta	1998	ii, iii, iv, v, vi (cultural)	The two villages are located at high elevations in the Andes, around 3,000 m (9,800 ft) above sea level. People practice camelid stockbreeding and terrace farming of vegetables. Ayquina (pictured) is home to the festival dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, which draws in people from neighbouring communities. Toconce also has festivals, including those associated with cattle and with cleaning of irrigation channels.[14]
Baquedano Street		Tarapaca Region	1998	Cultural (ii)(v)	"The architecture of Iquique, of which Baquedano Street is an outstanding example, was able of wisely adapting itself to the climatic conditions prevailing in Iquique. This was mainly achieved by means of the use of suitable technologies and architectural and constructive solutions. The buildings on Baquedano Street and, in general, all those which have been built following the traditional architecture of the city, correspond to stores or to houses of immigrants who amassed fortunes thanks to the nitrate works. The buildings are of a sort which can be characterized by three elements: the building material is Oregon pine -which had to be imported from remote areas-, the constructive method is that of simple framework or 'Ballon Frame", and their architectural style is the 4American" or some of its derivatives (Georgian, Greek Revival, Adam). With regard to the patterns characterizing these buildings, we can mention the construction following a continuous frontage (façades), the verticality and lightness of the houses, the organization of spaces around a central nucleus, the presence of the vestibule, the use of the verandah and of skylights or lanterns, the use of watchtowers, and the aerial or shady roof over the terrace roof. The Baquedano Street starts in Prat Square, forming with it an outstanding group of urban and architectural expression which fully symbolizes the nature of the nitrate epic deed. Among this group, there are exceptional monuments such as the Clock Tower, the Building for the Tarapaca's Employees Society, the Municipal Theater and the Astoreca Palace. The first three buildings are located in Prat Square, and the last one in Baquedano Street. Likewise, there are other buildings of great value, such as the Yugoslav Club, the ex Courts of Justice, and the Spanish Social Club."[15]
Cerro El Plomo high shrine		Santiago Metropolitan Region	1998	Cultural (ii)(iii)(vi)	"On March 30, 1954, a Chilean newspaper announced an archeological discovery of world-wide significance. It was about the frozen body of a child of 8 or 9 years of age, sacrificed by the Incas at the top of one of the highest mountains of the Andes Cordillera, in front of Santiago city. The existence of buildings' traces on the ascending path to the top of this hill was known since the end of last century. Mountaineers, muleteers and ore prospectors found traces of Inca presence in Cerro El Plomo, which finally led, in 1954, to the discovery of this Shrine and of the body it sheltered. The finding was thrilling for the professionals of the time. The child's frozen body kept his fingerprints; his remains and rich trousseau were intact. The Cerro El Plomo High Shrine is a result of the cult of mountains, a fundamental element of the Inca conception of the world, which is closely associated with the cult of fertility."[16]
Churches of the Altiplano		Arica y Parinacota Region	1998	Cultural (ii)(iii)(v)	"At the end of the XVI century, the first missionaries arrived at Tarapaca. They came with the mission of evangelizing the natives of the place, building for that end small temples whose design and construction fall within a style generically known as "Andean mestizo". The group is composed of at least fifty churches. Similar in shape and built following the same rudimentary construction technique based on stone and adobe, mud and wild straw (coiron), and the peculiar local wood, these churches show some differences arising from the geographic, productive and social characteristics of each place. However, they clearly constitute a group, and a quite representative one of an spontaneous architecture, of popular- not professional- origin, which kept its continuity for centuries. The missionaries rose the temples at the edge of pre-existing small villages, without altering the layout of the latter."[17]
Fell and Pali Aike Caves		Magallanes	1998	Cultural (iii)(iv)	"The first inhabitants of the southernmost end of America came from the north by land, and settled in the southern Patagonia area approximately 11,000 years ago, when the ice of the last glaciation had retreated to the Andean summits, giving place to more mild climatic conditions. The evidences of these first groups of hunters-pickers, in this case grouped together under the denomination of Cuitural Period I or "Paleoindian", have been found at the volcanic steppe area of Pali Aike, close to the Magallanes Strait. The most important sites are the Fell Cave, the stratigraphy of which shows the different stages of these groups' evolution, specially their technology, and the Pali Aike Cave which, among other relics, lodges three cremated human skeletons, proving the performance of funerary ceremonies and contributing valuable information regarding the physical characteristics of these people."[18]
Houses of the hacienda San José del Carmen el Huique		O'Higgins Region	1998	Cultural (ii)(iii)(v)	"The houses of the Hacienda El Huique are a faithful reflection of the traditional way of life of the Chilean farmland, based on the hacienda. They also are an extraordinary sample of rural agriculture at the beginning of the Republic. Thanks to the care of their owners, whose family kept the property for two centuries, to the management of the Army -which since 1976 has looked after the preservation and improvement of the precincts-, and to the comuneros working these lands, this historical property can be appreciated and enjoyed by all people as a site museum."[19]
Juan Fernández Archipelago National Park		Valparaíso Region	1994	Natural (x)	"Juan Fernández Archipelago National Park is a 93 sq km protected area, covering 95% of the land area of a group of Oceanic islands lying 360 to 450 nautical miles off the coast islands represent the emerging volcanic mountaintops of a hot spot chain, formed in the middle of the Nazca plate. From a biological point of view, the islands have a high proportion of endemic flora and fauna species. this trait is shared with many islands, but what makes this case special is a unique combination of species origins; some are related to tropical America, other have Antarctic affinities and yet other are related to Asia and Australasia. In addition, the long isolation has generated endemism not only at the species level, but also at higher taxonomic levels, including a monotypic Order, Lactoridales, very important as the only living link for the study of the evolution of related Orders. The National Park was established in 1935, since 1968 a team of park rangers is in charge of protecting the park."[20]
La Moneda Palace		Santiago Metropolitan Region	1998	Cultural (ii)(iii)(iv)(v)	"The surroundings of La Moneda underwent an important remodeling starting from 1930, that enhanced its south façade, created the squares at both fronts, and surrounded the Palace with stern buildings for housing public institutions. The last great restoration of the building was motivated by the painful destruction it suffered as a consequence of the 1973 military coup. The Architecture Office of the Ministry of Public Works was in charge of this restoration, concluded in 1981, which sought to give back full validity to Toescat's original concept. The Palace keeps until this day the style, strength and harmony impressed by its architect. This, along with the roles it has played, account for the high esteem in which Chileans hold this building."[21]
Locomotive depot of the Temuco Railroad Station		Araucanía Region	1998	Cultural (iv)	"Railroad officially arrived at Temuco the very first day of 1893. It is believed that the first locomotive depot was located a few meters to the north of the present one, in lots handed over to the State Railroad Company by mapuche people. Temuco turned into an important railroad center, where long-run trains changed locomotives. That depot also housed the locomotives of the trains covering the branch lines to towns such as Carahue, Cunco and Cherquenco. During the first decades of this century, complex locomotive repair and maintenance works were performed in the Temuco locomotive depot. After the San Bernardo Machine Shop started operating in 1920, the Temuco depot kept on doing uncomplicated repairs."[22]
Malleco Viaduct		Araucanía Region	1998	Cultural (i)(iv)	"The Malleco Viaduct was in its time considered the highest railroad bridge in the world. It is one of the largest works of metal engineering in Chile. It was built within the setting of an ambitious state program to extend the railroad network, which President José Manuel Balmaceda deemed fundamental for the economic future of the country. The work was part of the construction of the railroad line between Angol and Traiguén, made by the Chilean State through a public bidding. The passage through the Malleco River valley presented the main problem for the layout, since the riverbed runs 110 meters below the level of the plains. "[23]
Monte Verde Archaeological Site		Los Lagos Region	2004	Cultural (iii)(iv)	"The Monte Verde archaeological site locates in the region of the sub-Antarctic and evergreen softwood forest, in the low mountains of the South of Chile. There, the site shows the existence of a group of people that lived there throughout the beaches and banks of sand and gravel of a small stream about 14.800 years ago according to the calibrated dates of carbon 14. After the occupation of this site, a turf coating formed by a swamp covered the entire site and allowed the conservation of this impression of the human past. The archaeological works of the Austral University of Chile achieved the discovery of these rests of housing, wood devices, vegetal food rests, such as wild potatoes, and animal bones among which there are rests of 5 or 6 mastodons, as carrion or hunting food, showing an early human fitness to "Valdiviano" type humid temperate forest."[24]
Rupestrian art of the Patagonia		Aysén Region Magallanes Region	1998	Cultural (i)(ii)(iii)	"Near Lake General Carrera, to the east of the southern Andes, there are manifestations of rupestrian art constituting the so-called "Patagonian Art Style", which is the oldest in South America. Its best known representations are those of hands, the scenes depicting guanacos, and the frets which, although ill preserved, reach up to some eaves of the pampas region stretching to the north of the Magallanes Strait. Due to the isolation of the Patagonia regarding cultural streams, the basic characteristics of the style remained unaltered for millenniums. Proof of it are the paintings of the rocky shelter Los Toldos in central Patagonia, over the Atlantic coast, which are nearly 10,000 years old. In later times, these artistic manifestations especially developed in east Patagonia, but also in the sub-Andean area to the west of the Chilean-Argentinian borderline, at some points where the conditions of the geographic environment of Chile maintain some pampa features."[25]
San Francisco Church and Convent		Santiago Metropolitan Region	1998	Cultural (ii)(iv)	"The San Francisco Church and Convent originated from the Ermita del Socorro, a small hermitage built for lodging the image of the Virgin of that name, brought into the country by the Spanish conquistador and founder of Santiago, Pedro de Valdivia. This image, carved and painted in Italy, was much revered both by Valdivia and his comrades-in-arms, who attributed to its mediation the fact of having survived the natives' attacks. The veneration for this image kept its strength throughout the Colony, and has lasted till this day. In 1554, in exchange for twelve lots facing the Cerro Santa Lucia, the Franciscan Order got into the obligation of building a church to lodge the image sheltered in the Ermita."[26]
San Pedro de Atacama		Antofagasta Region	1998	Cultural (ii)(iii)(v)	"The Atacama area has a desert-like climate, with big differences of temperature between day and night, and summer rains which do not surpass 100 millimeters per year. The main water sources are the San Pedro and Vilama rivers. The area's chief geographic element is the Solar de Atacama, occupying a surface 100 kilometers long by 80 km. wide. The salt mine is a result of the surfacing of underground waters saturated with mineral salts which, on evaporating, leave a crust rich in salts and minerals. The rivers, fed by the Andean snows, irrigate the area allowing the configuration of numerous oasis. This is the scenario where the Atacama culture developed. "[27]
The Defensive Complex of Valdivia		Los Ríos Region	1998	Cultural (i)(iii)(iv)	"The Spanish Crown early perceived the strategic nature of Ghilets southernmost region which, through the Magallanes Strait and Cape Horn, was an intermediate point for navigation from Europe to the American Pacific coast. From the end of the XVI century, the construction of fortifications in this area became a high priority due to the frequent transit of French, English and Dutch ships and, particularly, to pirates' raids. To the destruction in the Chilean and Peruvian coast caused by Francis Drake in 1578, were added expeditions like that of the Dutch Hendrik Brouwer, who, in 1643, occupied for a time the littoral adjacent to the mouth of the Valdivia river, with the purpose of challenging from there the Spanish might. These incidents led the Spanish authorities to undertake the construction of powerful defensive facilities in Valdivia, Valparaiso and Chiloé. Valdivia, the oldest of the three, would become, along with El Callao, the most important defensive complex of the American South Pacific coast."[28]
Torres del Paine and Bernardo O'Higgins National Parks, Region of Magallanes		Magallanes	1994	Natural (x)	"Torres del Paine and Bernardo O'Higgins National Parks include over 90% of the Southern Patagonian Icefield; the remainder of it, across the border in Argentina, is included within Los Glaciares National Park (W.H.Site). The area of the proposed site is 37.073 sq.km. Besides the icefield that follows the main Andes range for approximately 350 km in a north-south direction, the site includes outlying ranges such as the Paine Massif, well known as a scenic area and as a challenging mountain climbing destination. To the west, the site extends to the open waters of the Pacific Ocean through a maze of fiords and islands, that show different examples and stages of glacial action and periglacial ecosystems succession. The area was given National Park status by successive decrees issued from 1959 through 1975."[29]

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