Urban explanatory architecture plan | Construpedia

Urban explanatory architecture plan

Introduction

Valparaíso is a commune and capital city "Capital (political)") of the province and Region of Valparaíso. It is located in the central area of Chile and is the historical, institutional and university center of Greater Valparaíso, which forms together with the municipalities of Viña del Mar, Quilpué, Villa Alemana and Concón. As the capital of the region, it houses the Presidential Delegation and the Regional Government of Valparaíso, in addition to being the headquarters of the National Congress, an important port terminal and one of the three most populated Chilean cities.

It has a population of close to 300,000 people, and if its metropolitan area is included, it exceeds 950,000 inhabitants, making it the most populated in the region and the third city after Greater Santiago and Greater Concepción.

Valparaíso is the base of the Command in Chief of the Chilean Navy and other national State institutions such as the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage "Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage (Chile)"), the Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture, the National Customs Service and the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service. It is one of the busiest ports in Chile and one of the most important in the South Pacific.[4].

The city is recognized for being a great center of higher education, since some of the most important universities in Chile are established, such as the University of Valparaíso, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso and Universidad de Playa Ancha.

Geographically, Valparaíso is presented in the form of a large natural amphitheater, located in the bay of the same name and surrounded by numerous hills, in which most of the population lives.[5] Between the foot of the hills and the sea, the Plan, the administrative, commercial and financial center of the city, is formed; while the edge of the sea is occupied by the port.

Due to its architectural wealth developed mainly at the end of the 19th century,[6] in 2003 its historic center was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, becoming the third Chilean site protected by the international organization, after the Rapa Nui national park and 16 churches of Chiloé.[6].

Place names

Contenido

Existen dos versiones sobre el origen de su nombre, una se le atribuye a Juan de Saavedra quien habría bautizado en 1536 con el nombre de Valparaíso la rada donde encontró la nave en recuerdo de su pueblo natal de Valparaíso de Arriba (Ayuntamiento de Carrascosa del Campo, Cuenca, España).[7].

Urban explanatory architecture plan

Introduction

History

Origins

The area where Valparaíso was later developed was inhabited by Picunches groups, archaeologically identified as the Aconcagua culture,[10] who were dedicated to fishing, shellfish harvesting and hunting sea lions, resources that they could also trade with the inland valleys. During the period of Inca domination, the area was part of the Collasuyo, becoming dependent on the lonco Tanialonco,[11] lord of the lower course of the Aconcagua River, who had been invested as curaca of the Inca.

Viceregal era (16th to 19th centuries)

The official discovery of Valparaíso for Europeans occurred within the framework of the expedition to Chile of the Spanish Diego de Almagro, who organized his trip to this country in 1534 from Cuzco (after "differences" with Francisco Pizarro). On July 3, 1535, the conquistador set out in search of the large quantities of gold that he thought were in Chile. For this, apart from the land expedition that Almagro commanded, there was another, marine one, in which its official discovery was made by a Spanish ship called Santiago (or Santiaguillo "Santiaguillo (caravel)"), which left Callao along with two other ships, commanded by the pilots Juan Fernández "Juan Fernández (sailor)") and Alonso de Quinteros, which were to assist the expedition that came to conquer Chile by land. The Santiago boarded the port and walked along the coast looking for the land expedition members. One of these, Captain Juan de Saavedra, sent by Almagro, descended to the beach and contacted the ship in the first days of September 1536, baptizing it with the name Valparaíso in memory of his hometown, Valparaíso de Arriba, in Spain.[12].

Although his mission to find gold was a complete failure (and the trip to the country, both there and back, was disastrous), he discovered to his surprise two Spaniards who were already perfectly settled: Gonzalo Calvo de Barrientos and Antón Cerrada. Both lived in the indigenous way in what is now Quillota, in central Chile. Realizing that further to the south there was a cold territory, without gold and populated by hostile indigenous people, Almagro decided to return to Cuzco, where he began a fratricidal fight with Pizarro. In the conflict, Captain Pedro de Valdivia stood out on the latter's side, whose presence helped the subsequent victory over Almagro.

At his own request, Pizarro granted Valdivia permission to "conquer" Chile. His first official act was the founding of the city of Santiago de la Nueva Extremadura in 1541; Valparaíso was designated as its natural port on September 3, 1544.

At that time, looting, destruction and death caused by pirates were relatively common, especially those of English origin such as Francis Drake in 1587 or Richard Hawkins at the end of the 16th century.

On July 8, 1730, a large earthquake occurred (8.7 degrees on the Richter scale)[13] that affected the city of Valparaíso, as well as other towns such as Santiago or Rancagua. According to sources at the time[14] it lasted a quarter of an hour and generated a tsunami that affected areas ranging from the Peruvian city of Callao in the north, through Valparaíso and Concepción "Concepción (Chile)"), until reaching Valdivia in Chile, in the south. To date, this is the only destructive tsunami in Valparaíso, since there have been historical records. It flooded an area that goes from the Matriz church in the south to the current Plaza O'Higgins in the north.[15].

This tsunami crossed the Pacific Ocean until it devastated the Japanese prefecture of Miyagi.

Valparaíso remained a port town, inhabited sporadically (due to both natural disasters and damage caused by pirates), by no more than five thousand inhabitants practically during all the years of the viceregal era, with a few houses, a church and a dock built by private initiative only in 1810, shortly before the de facto independence of Chile.

This explains why in Valparaíso, unlike other places in Chile and Latin America with a similar age, nothing of what was built during the viceregal era is preserved. Almost everything that can be seen in the city was built after the country's independence.

Republican era

• - On May 30, the city council grants the license to form an educational establishment to the congregation of the Sacred Hearts. Currently this is the oldest private school in Chile.

• - June 6. Minister Diego Portales is shot by military conspirators and finished off with bayonets on Barón Hill: the conspirators were opposed to the war against the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, promoted by the minister.

• - On November 9 of the same year, the president of Chile José Joaquín Prieto promulgates Supreme Decree No. 109 that authorizes the construction of the Punta Ángeles lighthouse, the first in Chile. It was originally a white-painted wooden tower with a torch, located in the city's port; Then they moved it to the Naval Academy on Cerro Artillería and later to its current location in Playa Ancha. It has a range of 32 nautical miles, and a light output of 9,600,000 candelas.

• - The first national insurance company is founded in Valparaíso.

• - On June 30, the Valparaíso Fire Department was formed, the first in the country.

• - The city's first drinking water service begins to operate.

• - Also this year the Telegraph between Valparaíso and Santiago begins to operate, being the first in Latin America.

After the country's independence and its subsequent opening to international trade, Valparaíso became an important center for the world's trade routes, with a large number of immigrants settling in the city, mostly Europeans and Americans, who helped give it a marked cosmopolitan appearance. Thus, Valparaíso and Chile were included in the industrial revolution of that time, creating different civil, financial, commercial and industrial institutions in the city, many of which still exist.

All of the above caused a population increase that exceeded 160,000 inhabitants in Valparaíso at the end of the 19th century: for this reason, it was necessary to use the steep hills to build homes and then mansions, even cemeteries. Shortly after, and due to the lack of available land, land began to be generated in what was previously the sea, to build administrative, commercial buildings and industrial infrastructure.

The 20th century began with the first major protest by port workers in Chile, on April 15, 1903, due to the dockers' demands for their excessive working hours and a salary increase, requests that were ignored by the businessmen, creating a tense situation that led to serious acts of violence on May 12, such as the takeover of the mayor's office by the Protestants, the burning of the CSAV offices and the shooting and death of people in different places in the city. All this provoked intervention at the state level, applying a state of siege for several days in the city. This protest was important for the future unionism in the country.

The same year, electric trams were inaugurated, replacing the previous animal-powered urban railways.

Geography

Valparaíso está dividido en el plan y sus cerros, además de localidades más alejadas del centro, como Laguna Verde "Laguna Verde (pueblo)"), Placilla de Peñuelas y Curauma.

Plan

The urban plan or planning is divided into three sectors:

• -

Sotomayor Plaza.

The Puerto neighborhood is the oldest in the city, inhabited since colonial times. It is home to La Matriz, the first church of Valparaíso (the building has been rebuilt in the same place in various styles), the Command in Chief of the Chilean Navy, the largest facilities of the city's port, the Wheelwright, Echaurren and Sotomayor squares, the ruined Puerto market, bars, hotels that originally housed sailors and immigrant families, various bank headquarters, the National Customs Service, the Court of Appeals of Valparaíso, the Civil Registry, the Monument to the Heroes of Iquique, the headquarters of the newspaper El Mercurio de Valparaíso, the first Merval station, among others.

• -

British Arch.

El Almendral "El Almendral (Valparaíso)"), is the largest plain in Valparaíso, like the Puerto neighborhood, it was enlarged in the 19th century through continuous work to reclaim land from the sea, which made possible the construction of the Brasil "Avenida Brasil (Valparaíso)") and Errázuriz avenues and the seafront that is occupied by the port. Then, at the beginning of the 20th century, and within the reconstruction works of the city due to the earthquake of 1906, more land was gained with the vaulting of the Delicias and Jaime estuaries, in addition to laying over them the current Argentina avenues "Avenida Argentina (Valparaíso)") and Francia respectively. In this area are located the National Congress of Chile, Victoria Squares, Parque Italia and Plaza O'Higgins (Christmas fairs are held in the last two), the Valparaíso Cathedral, the Municipal Theatre, the Cardonal Market and most of the city's commerce, in addition to various municipal services, and the Carlos Van Buren Hospital. Many of Valparaíso's educational establishments are located in this neighborhood, such as the schools and high schools on Argentina, Pedro Montt "Avenida Pedro Montt (Valparaíso)"), Independencia, Victoria and Colón streets, or the universities, professional institutes and the Severín public library, on Brasil Avenue.

• -

Wheelwright Walk.

The Yolanda sector, which is located between the foot of the Barón and Placeres hills, Argentina Avenue, the Pacific Ocean and the neighboring commune of Viña del Mar. Here are located container storage areas of the port, the old Barón meat processing plant (currently used as a cruise passenger terminal), the Barón dock, the remains of a railway depot, the Wheelwright pedestrian promenade and the Portales cove. This area has been the subject of controversy and debate since 2014, due to real estate interests in building a mall in a place that some port residents and port businessmen consider should not happen, since they say it would hinder future plans to expand port facilities. There is also criticism of the megaport that is intended to be built in the sector.[21][22].

Hills

The hills are basically the residential part of the city. In them we can find everything from precariously built huts to mansions of the most varied architectural styles and sizes, an old prison, transformed into a cultural center, cemeteries (No. 1, of Dissidents, No. 2 or No. 3); pleasant pedestrian walks from which you can see all or a large part of Valparaíso, accessible from the many funiculars, called here public elevators, vibrant nightlife, boutique hotels located in old mansions, restaurants, shops or art galleries. In the hills there are also kindergartens, basic schools, secondary schools and universities such as the Federico Santa María in Placeres, or the one in Playa Ancha and the Arturo Prat Naval School, squares, museums such as La Sebastiana, the National Maritime Museum, the Puppet and Clown Museum or the Museum of Fine Arts in Valparaíso, clinics and stadiums.

The hills of Valparaíso have urban and social characteristics that are different from each other. They have their own streets and access stairs and many had or have the elevator that connects them to the plan. There are their stores, their groups, their community life, in other words, they are recognizable units, which make up neighborhoods and identity. An identity so strong that it even happens that people from a certain hill know another only by name, or that Buenos Aires residents who live in other places in Chile or abroad recognize each other by the hill they come from, more than by the city itself. Valparaíso has 42 historic hills.

Green Lagoon

Laguna Verde is a town located in a bay south of the city. Its population does not exceed 5,000 inhabitants and due to the tranquility and beauty of its natural surroundings, it is a favorite place for the construction of summer homes. A large part of its population works or studies in Valparaíso.

Placilla - Curauma

Placilla is located 12 km east (inland) of Valparaíso, near the Lago Peñuelas national reserve and has a population of close to 40,000 inhabitants. In this sector there are port and industrial facilities. Due to its relative distance and differences with the administrations of the municipality of Valparaíso, Placilla has sought at various times its administrative independence. Next to Placilla is the Curauma sector, a small planned city of 23,000 inhabitants, with services such as universities, supermarkets and a great real estate offer. Currently, both sectors are in the conurbation stage with Valparaíso and its immediate neighbor Viña del Mar (which in the 19th century was also considered a suburb of Valparaíso, acquiring administrative independence later). A large part of the population from both sectors works or studies in Valparaíso or Viña del Mar.

Unfortunate Islands

In addition, the commune of Valparaíso is in charge of the Desventuradas Islands, more specifically San Félix, San Ambrosio, González islet and Cathedral rock. They were assigned in 1979 by Decree Law 2,868 of 1979, separating them from the commune of Caldera "Caldera (Chile)"), as they have greater links with the former than with the latter due to their direct connection with the Naval Squadron.

Economy

Hacia 2018 había 8126 empresas registradas en Valparaíso. El Índice de Complejidad Económica (ECI) en el mismo año fue de 1.99, mientras que las actividades económicas con mayor índice de Ventaja Comparativa Revelada (RCA) fueron servicios de fotocopias (56.79), alquiler de equipo de transporte por vía aérea (54.05) y manipulación de la carga (38.6).[37].

Port of Valparaiso

The first ship arrived in Valparaíso in 1536: it was the Santiaguillo, which supported Diego de Almagro's expedition.

In 1810, a wealthy merchant built the first dock in the history of Chile and the first during the colonial era in the place where the El Mercurio de Valparaíso building is today, since at that time the sea reached that place (due to work to reclaim land from the sea, today it is five blocks further away).

Between 1910 and 1930, a large part of the city's current port was built, including filling work to reclaim land from the sea.

Currently the port of Valparaíso is divided into ten sites of which sites 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are managed by Terminal Pacífico Sur S.A. and sites 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 by the Empresa Portuaria de Valparaíso.

The latter two sites include a dock and are used as public promenades and a cruise ship passenger terminal. In the near future we are looking to give a real estate boost to this great area of the city.

Valparaíso is the main container and passenger port in Chile.

It transfers 10 million tons annually and serves nearly 50 cruise ships and 150,000 passengers per season.

The fact that Valparaíso has a port does not necessarily mean that it benefits in any way from this condition, since all the income it generates goes to the fiscal treasury, not the municipal treasury. In addition, the municipality of Valparaíso has no influence whatsoever in the making of decisions concerning the port itself or the election of its authorities, a responsibility that falls solely on the national government.

Tourism

The particular geographical distribution of Valparaíso, where the hills invade the coast, makes the view from hill to sea remarkable. For this reason, places such as the Portales, Esperanza, O'Higgins and Marina Mercante viewpoints, the 21 de Mayo, Yugoslavo, Gervasoni, Mirador Atkinson and Dimalow promenades are ideal when it comes to panoramic views of the port city. During the New Year festivities, many of these viewpoint walks are packed with tourists late in the morning, all to have a more privileged view of the pyrotechnic spectacle.

The routes between the oldest hills of the city (Alegre and Concepción) allow you to contemplate the colonial English architecture of its houses, its churches from the early 19th century and enter contemporary museums, gardens and small squares, viewpoints hidden between houses and balconies. Around its hills and the Almendral Plan "El Almendral (Valparaíso)") there are interesting museums, among which the Naval and Maritime Museum stands out (whose entrance is in the middle of the Artisan Fair on Paseo 21 de Mayo), the Lord Cochrane, the Municipal Museum of Fine Arts, installed in the Baburizza Palace, the Natural History Museum, the Clown and the Puppet Museum, the Municipal Art Gallery, the Lukas Lookout House "Renzo Pecchenino (Lukas)") and La Sebastiana, one of the houses of the poet Pablo Neruda.

Trade

Currently in Valparaíso there are 3 shopping centers, 4 stripcenters, 4 important commercial hubs and 1 Outlet:.

• - Cenco Valparaíso (former Portal Valparaíso) (Jumbo, Easy, Paris and La Polar).

• - Paseo del Puerto Mall.

• - Paseo Ross Mall.

• - Strip Center Plaza Barón.

• - Strip Center Los Placeres.

• - Strip Center Parque los Inglés.

• - Strip Center Puerto Curauma.

• - Pedro Montt Avenue Axis "Pedro Montt Avenue (Valparaíso)").

• - Uruguay Avenue Axis.

• - Victoria Street Axis.

• - Condell Avenue axis.

• - Arauco Premium Outlet Curauma.

International relations

La ciudad de Valparaíso es sede de una serie de instituciones de relaciones internacionales, tales como la Unidad Regional de Asuntos Internacionales (URAI) del Gobierno Regional de Valparaíso, encargada del análisis y gestión de las relaciones bilaterales y multilaterales de la región con América Latina y el resto del mundo, las Unidades de Relaciones Internacionales de la Cámara de Diputadas y Diputados, y el Senado, la Unidad de Asuntos Internacionales del Ministerio de las Culturas, las Artes y el Patrimonio "Ministerio de las Culturas, las Artes y el Patrimonio (Chile)"), la Unidad de Asuntos Internacionales de la Subsecretaría de Pesca y Acuicultura, el Departamento de Relaciones Internacionales del Estado Mayor General de la Armada de Chile, el Departamento de Asuntos Internacionales de la Dirección General del Territorio Marítimo y Marina Mercante (DIRECTEMAR), la Comisión de Relaciones Internacionales del Consejo Regional de Valparaíso, la Dirección Nacional del Servicio Nacional de Aduanas, la oficina regional de la Dirección General de Promoción de Exportaciones (ProChile), y la Dirección de Desarrollo Económico y Cooperación de la Municipalidad de Valparaíso.

Immigration management

In terms of international relations and migration management, the main actors within Valparaíso are the regional office of the National Migration Service, the Department of Migration and International Police of the Investigative Police, and the Migrant Office of the Municipality of Valparaíso.[38].

Internationalization in higher education

In terms of international relations and higher education, the main actors within Valparaíso are the International Relations Commission of the Council of Rectors of Valparaíso, the Directorate of Institutional Relations of the University of Valparaíso,[39] the General Directorate of International Affairs of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso,[40] the General Directorate of International Affairs of the University of Playa Ancha,[41] and the Directorate of International Affairs of the Federico Technical University Santa María.[42].

Local culture and heritage

Culture

Valparaíso is a city with a vigorous cultural activity, birthplace of banking, the stock market, firefighters, the Chilean Navy, the first lighthouse in the country, the first astronomical observatory in Latin America, steam navigation, the telegraph, telephony, horse riding "Turf", private education, the first theater, photography, football, cinema, television, the first computer, the first Volunteer Lifeboat Corps in South America, among other institutions in Chile. Since the beginning of Chilean history it has enjoyed great importance in this aspect, since being the country's main port, it was a recipient of immigrants from Europe and other parts of the world.

References to the city's artistic wealth are the Naval and Maritime museums, which are accessed through the middle of the craft fair on Paseo 21 de Mayo on Artillería Hill; Municipal of Fine Arts, of the Lord Thomas Cochrane Sea and of Natural History; the Municipal Art Gallery (Condell 1550), La Sebastiana, one of Pablo Neruda's houses located on Florida Hill. The Thousand Drums Carnival and the National Festival of Cueca and Tonada Inédita are held annually").[43].

The Santiago Severín Library in Valparaíso was the first public library in Chile.

At the end of the 1960s, during a mural workshop held by Professor Francisco Ménez at the Catholic University of Buenos Aires, the idea of painting large abstract murals on the walls of houses and the retaining walls of Cerro Bellavista was born, which was reflected in nearly sixty murals painted in various places in the city between that year and 1973. At the beginning of the latter, in a conversation Nemesio Antúnez, who at that time was working as director of the Museum of Fine Arts of Santiago, the idea of calling various painters was proposed to him to capture the idea of creating an artistic tour of the hills of Valparaíso with murals. The military coup of September 11 forced the postponement of the project, which came to fruition only in 1991 thanks to an agreement signed between the aforementioned university and the Municipality of Valparaíso[44] giving birth to the Valparaíso Open Sky Museum.

The fact that the paintings are arranged in a route along the slope of the hill, in different positions, that there are stairs so special and pictorial calculation, surreal - like number 16 by Nemesio Antúnez -, expressionist, pop art, optical art, figurative and abstract, that each of the painters chose their own wall, that is to say "their own canvas", that no common theme or tribute has been imposed on the artist - which is common in murals of the city—, that these symbolize the artist's own character within a close relationship with the neighbors as accomplices, collaborators, friends and critics - it is said that they supplied them with tea, kept their belongings at the end of the day and took care of the paintings - resulting in an illustration of the environment and the moment in which they are inserted, be it a museum properly. It was inaugurated in 1992 with beautiful works by Nemesio Antúnez, Mario Toral and Roberto Matta among other great artists, and can be accessed through the Espíritu Santo Elevator.

El Mercurio de Valparaíso, the oldest Spanish-speaking newspaper in circulation in the world, is a witness to the evolution of Valparaíso.

Valparaíso also, during the Bicentennial, hosted important international cultural events, such as the Universal Forum of Cultures in 2010 and what was going to be the V International Congress of the Spanish Language, which would become one of the most important versions of this event, however the earthquake that hit the country on February 27 of that year forced the cancellation of the congress.

Elevators

Due to the slopes of the Valparaíso hills, many of the surrounding sectors of the port are inaccessible by public transportation and the funicular elevators fulfill the task of connecting the upper part of the city with the plan, in addition to being tourist references. The first, which ran on steam, was built on Cerro Concepción in 1883 and the one on Cordillera, in 1887.

Although the original idea was to build an elevator per hill—Valparaíso has 43 hills—that plan was not fully realized due to the appearance of buses and the laying of roads that made access easier. However, more than 30 were completed, of which 15 remain, the vast majority still in operation. There are a few out of service or under repair, and it has been suggested to restore some that have already disappeared, such as the Esmeralda, which connected Condell Street with Atkinson Walk.

The Ramaditas elevator, on Washington Street, was the only one whose two stations were located on a hill, unlike the rest where the ground is in the plan. The Artillería became so successful that its owners decided to build a "second line" next to the original - each with its respective machine room -, thus creating the only four-car elevator in Valparaíso. Over time it stopped being profitable and the first line was dismantled (only vestiges of it remain), but the 2nd continues to operate.

The only "institutional" elevator in Valparaíso is the Van Buren, from the hospital of the same name, which only officials of the establishment are allowed to use. It is heir to one vertically, similar to Polanco, called San Juan de Dios (old name of the hospital), built at the end of the 19th century.

Valparaíso currently has 16 elevators declared National Historical Monuments between 1974 and 2010, of which five were municipally owned — the Barón, El Peral, Polanco, Reina Victoria and San Agustín (detained for work) — and the others were in private hands: Florida, Mariposas and Monjas belonged to the Compañía Nacional de Elevators S. A.; Artillery, Concepción and Cordillera, to the Mechanical Elevators of Valparaíso; Espíritu Santo, Larraín and Villaseca (detained since 2006 for repairs), to Ascensores Valparaíso S. A.; and Lecheros (detained since 2007 due to a fire), to businessman Justo Maturana (Compañía de Ascensores del Cerro Lecheros Ltda).

Ten of these private elevators were purchased by the Municipality in May 2012[45] and only the last one mentioned was left out of that plan,[46] although its purchase was later approved in two installments, which should have been completed in the first quarter of 2015.[47].

Trolleybuses

Another means of collective transportation is the trolleybus, popularly known as trolley, electric vehicles, built by the defunct Pullman-Standard Company in the United States. They began to provide services with great pomp on December 31, 1952, five years after that in Santiago.[48] This date was highly anticipated by the people of Buenos Aires, since it was the day that the old electric trams went out of circulation, with the same joy that they had received in 1903 when they replaced the blood carts, which were pulled by Percherons and strong horses on the rails that rested on the cobblestones.

In the early 1990s, second-hand articulated trolleybuses manufactured between approximately 1965 and 1975 were purchased in Switzerland. In 2000, they had to leave the old Independencia building since the land was sold to build the new Guarantee and Oral Criminal Courts, they were until 2006 on vacant land on España Avenue. Between 2006 and 2008, they had their workshops in Placilla de Peñuelas, but since mid-2008 they have returned to Valparaíso.

In recent years, administrative problems have put its permanence within the city's public transportation system in check. A lifeline for these old machines, silent witnesses of a glorious past, occurred in July 2003, since the Council of National Monuments of Chile granted the fifteen Pullman-Standard trolleys models 800 and 700 that are still in operation the category of National Monument.[49][50].

It is currently protected under the collective bidding system Transport Metropolitano de Valparaíso (TMV), which, despite not completely solving its problems, has made this means of transportation the most picturesque in the entire country; Thus, they have also ensured its operation for several more years, being a comfortable, clean and respected transport by the majority of Buenos Aires inhabitants. At some times this service is used by local theater companies and schools to perform works related to the main milestones in the city's history.

Since March 2015, ten NAW trolleybuses purchased second-hand from the Swiss city of Luzern have been running alongside the traditional Pullman ones. In 2017, four other vehicles with similar characteristics were put into service.

World Heritage

Declaration

Approved by UNESCO in 1972 and signed by Chile in 1980, the World Cultural and Natural Heritage Convention required the signatory countries to present a tentative list of "cultural and natural heritage properties" that could be included in the World Heritage List.[51].

The list of 18 representative sites presented by Chile in 1998 included Valparaíso. In 1999, the first presentation of the coastal city was considered "insufficient"[51] by the UNESCO Executive Committee, and the Government of the time suspended the processing to include the necessary documentation in this regard. On July 2, 2003[52] the 21 members of the UNESCO Executive Committee, meeting in Paris, decided to declare the historic center of the port of Valparaíso a World Heritage Site.

Architecture

Valparaíso was the first and most important merchant market on the South American coast of the Pacific Ocean, due to its link between it and the Atlantic through the Strait of Magellan.[6] The commercial impact was reflected in its architecture, developed strongly at the end of the 19th century. In that sense, UNESCO declared that "the colonial city of Valparaíso constitutes a notable example of the urban and architectural development of Latin America at the end of the 19th century."[6].

The fact that Spanish colonial architecture was intertwined with other non-Hispanic European styles, especially Victorian, which were brought to this port by British immigrants, and developed extensively during the 19th century, has left an original and indelible imprint on the layout of the city.

This architectural mix was also due in part to the forced reconstruction after the gigantic Valparaíso earthquake of 1906, which forced architects and engineers to favor other construction systems that were more seismically stable, such as: wood (also called "balloon frame"), wrought iron and steel.

In fact, Valparaíso is one of the few places in the world where Victorian architecture was adapted to the topography of the place with such success. This has generated styles that in the rest of the country seem exogenous, have taken on a grandiose size and volume, for the simple fact of being executed on a hill.

Main works

Numerous works in various architectural styles mark the unique character of the Port, and recognized by the UNESCO declaration. For example:.

• - Church of the Matriz, with adobe-based architecture, and clear Hispanic roots.

• - Turri Clock, early art deco.

• - El Mercurio Building, from 1901, historicist style.

• - Former Intendencia, currently the Armada de Chile Building, neoclassical style.

• - Building of the Valparaíso Stock Exchange, by the Chilean architect Carlos Federico Claussen, in a style very similar to that of El Mercurio.

• - Valparaíso Museum of Fine Arts, located in the Baburizza Palace, the work of Italians Arnaldo Barison and Renato Schiavon. This house is one of the best national examples of modernism "Modernism (art)"), also called art nouveau.

• - La Sebastiana, by the Spanish architect Sebastián Collado; built to be Pablo Neruda's house in the city.

• - Houses on Avenida Great Britain in Playa Ancha, mostly made by the Chilean architect Esteban Orlando Harrington, based on fine artisanal work in wood.

In order to preserve the knowledge and understanding of the architectural heritage of Valparaíso, architect Myriam Waisberg has published various books such as Las Casas de Playa Ancha and Las Casas de Valparaíso.

Decline and challenges

Having been granted the category of World Heritage, Valparaíso currently presents the enormous challenge of conserving and protecting its valuable buildings. In that sense, in February 2014, UNESCO warned of "rupture of the urban landscape"[53] in a report requested by the Chilean Government on the effects of the growth of the city's port terminal and the potential construction of the Plaza Barón Mall in the Simón Bolívar Winery on the Barón wharf,[54] historical conservation property.

The rejection of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee led President Michelle Bachelet in mid-June 2014 to form a heritage advisory commission[55] that will analyze the future of projects that may impact the aforementioned Simón Bolívar Winery and that will be made up of the Council of National Monuments (CMN), the Municipality of Valparaíso, the Ministry of Transport and Icomos Chile. Along these lines, at the end of October 2014, a group of architects from the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso presented a counterproposal to the construction of the Plaza Barón Mall.[54][56].

Sports

Thanks to its position as a strategic port on the Pacific, a large number of foreign merchants settled in Valparaíso since the second decade of the 19th century,[62] being British immigrants who introduced various sports to the city. The first matches in Chile for cricket, tennis, badminton, rugby, golf, hockey and soccer took place in Valparaíso.

With respect to the latter, the most popular sport in the country and the city, it began dedicated exclusively to the resident British community under the sponsorship of different institutions such as the Mac Kay and Sutherland School - under whose wing the Mackay and Sutherland Football Club was born, considered the first football club in the history of Chile -[63] and the Valparaíso Sporting Club. In this context, in 1889, Valparaíso F.C. began to give life to Valparaíso F.C., the first football organization in the country without relation to an educational establishment, whose official foundation dates back to 1892.[64] The popularity of the sport began to grow gradually and several other teams were formed in the city, not only of British, but also of Chileans such as the Santiago Wanderers, founded on August 15, 1892, and which was one of the first teams where national footballers were the majority, or Everton founded on June 24, 1909. This last club decided to move to the neighboring city of Viña del Mar in 1943. In 1895 the Football Association of Chile was created, which brought together the main clubs of Valparaíso, but by the 1920s the port was losing national football hegemony in favor of the capital of the country and finally the headquarters of the Federation Chile's Football Team was transferred to Santiago.

After the creation of the first professional tournament in the capital in 1933, Santiago Wanderers became the first non-Santiago club to participate in the national championship after doing so for the first time in the 1937 tournament, however, this first foray only lasted one season. At the beginning of the 1940s, the team together with other teams formed the Buenos Aires Professional Football Association, which was short-lived. In 1944 Wanderers definitively joined the national tournaments organized by the Central Football Association and is currently playing in the Chilean First Division, a tournament it has won three times: 1958, 1968 and 2001. [65] It should be noted that two other teams, now defunct, also competed in national tournaments, albeit for brief periods: La Cruz F.C. in 1954 and Valparaíso Ferroviarios between 1962 and 1963, both in the Second Division.

The main sports venue in the city is the Elías Figueroa Brander Stadium, better known as Playa Ancha Stadium, as it is located on said hill. The stadium, where Santiago Wanderers usually plays at home, has a capacity of 18,500 spectators and is property of the Regional Government. It hosted the 1987 Youth Football World Cup, the 1991 Copa América and the 2015 Copa América.

Apart from soccer, other sports are practiced in Valparaíso, but with much lower attendance, among which it is worth mentioning basketball, which has a long tradition in the city and which takes place mainly in Fortín Prat. Currently, the Spanish Sports Union participates in the National Basketball League "Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Chile)").