JUNE 16, 2022

Culture Ministry declares the historic center of Castro, Chiloé, a national monument

A decree was published in the Official Gazette on Tuesday, June 14, to make the sector located on the founding plateau in Castro’s ‘traditional’ or ‘picturesque’ zone one of the archipelago’s most important cultural and heritage assets. The area surrounds the San Francisco de Castro Church, which is already a historical monument. 

The Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry published a decree in the Official Gazette this Tuesday, June 14, to declare the historic center of Castro a national monument, under the category of ‘traditional’ or ‘picturesque’ zone. The decree considers the historical, social, urban, architectural and scenic values that make up the distinctive environmental character of the area located on Chiloé. 

The decree covers a delimited area of 32 hectares on the city’s founding plateau, surrounding the San Francisco de Castro Church, which is already a historical monument. It makes it possible for Chile to fulfil the UNESCO resolution to protect the exceptional universal value of Chiloé’s World Heritage Site status, which was declared in 2000 to include 16 churches on the archipelago. 

The San Francisco Church is one of the archipelago’s most important cultural and heritage assets, in what was the southernmost city in the Americas during the 16th Century and remains the third oldest in Chile that has been continually populated. For this reason, and to install a buffer zone for the church, the declaration request was unanimously approved by the National Monuments Council (CMN) in July 2019. 

“Chiloé’s churches are exceptional examples of the successful fusion of European and indigenous cultural traditions, the result of which is a unique form of architecture in wood. The mestizo culture resulting from the missionary activities of the Jesuits in the 17th and 18th centuries has survived intact on the Chiloé Archipelago, and achieves its highest expression in the exceptional wooden churches,” said the Regional Secretary of the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry, Cristina Añasco. 

She continued by expressing her satisfaction with the declaration: “As a region, we appreciate the timely actions of our Culture Minister, Julieta Brodsky, when signing this declaration, which complies with Chile’s commitment. Chiloé has been under reactive monitoring by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre since 2013, and it continues to be, because of the visual impact caused by the volume of the mall close to Castro’s church, which affects its outstanding universal value. The World Heritage Committee requested that measures be taken to reverse this impact, and since it was not legally possible to request the demolition of the upper floors of the building to lower the height, the State promised to move forward in protecting the city’s plateau, through coordinating the different territorial planning and heritage protection instruments through National Monuments Law 17.288, so that problems of this sort do not occur again.” 

Given that the commitments made since 2013 to protect the area surrounding the San Francisco de Castro Church through the Communal Regulatory Plan and its various instruments have not materialized to date, it was necessary to finalize the processing of the current decree through the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry. 

The Chiloé Provincial Presidential Delegate, Mariela Núñez, stated that “the declaration of traditional zone is a recognition of the material heritage value of the San Francisco Church and the immaterial value of a community that built this monumental work based on collaborative effort through the minga system (local collaboration in a shared task). Our challenge is now to restore the social fabric of a community that works together for the common good. As President Gabriel Boric’s government, we are available to support this process with inclusive dialogue and respect for diversity. With this declaration, we continue to move forward in protecting the areas surrounding Chiloé’s churches. The San Francisco temple in particular is one of the Archipelago’s most important heritage assets. It is also a faithful guardian of the history of Castro and protagonist of the cultural heritage of our communities, passed down from generation to generation. As a government, we are now fulfilling Chile’s commitment to protecting, conserving and preserving Chiloé’s 16 World Heritage churches and their associated intangible heritage. We will continue working to strengthen this declaration and, for this, on Friday we will hold a discussion with local communities about the challenges and opportunities that the traditional zone presents. This will follow a mass where thanks will be given in the same church.” 

This declaration also works indirectly to ensure the harmonious and regulated urban development of Castro’s historic center, protecting it and regulating building heights and architectural attributes, thus safeguarding the landscape’s value. Due to its location, the area possesses a natural scenic environment with remarkable visual characteristics, in particular the fjord of this part of the peninsula and the views over the Rilán peninsula. 

The National Monuments Council also reported that it will strengthen Chiloé’s Provincial Technical Office by hiring specialized personnel. It will then begin to draw up the intervention regulations of the traditional zone in a participatory, informed and consensual manner alongside the local community.