Plaza de la Republica, Valdivia
Valdivia has had its share of the world's vicissitudes and calamities. It was founded in 1552 by Pedro de Valdivia and was abandoned in 1554 on account of the attacks on it by the Araucanians who captured its founder and put him to death by torture. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1575, and when rebuilt was sacked by Elias Harckmans, a Dutchman who fortified it. In 1645 the Dutch were worsted in a fight with the troops of the Peruvian viceroy, the Marquis de Mancera who drove them out. There was another earthquake in 1737 which again destroyed the place. Rebuilt, it was burned in 1748. In 1837 a third earthquake destroyed it. Since then it has burned down three times, in 1840, in 1885, and in 1911, the last one being an especially bad fire, wiping out the entire city. Thus it has been destroyed by earthquakes three times and burned four times.
It is beautifully situated on the south bank of the Calle-Calle which is navigable for small boats. The city is uninteresting as it is absolutely modern. In character it is German, for it is the leading German center in Chile. No other language is heard spoken on the main streets. The natives who slightly outnumber the Teutons and also speak German are to be found mostly on the back streets; they are employed by the Germans in the different industries. The population of Valdivia which is the tenth city in Chile is 24,743.
When one alights at the railroad station, it is better to take a launch to the city to the tune of sixty centavos (10 cents) than by the more arduous and long trip by cab over rough plank pavements. These launches owned by a man named Oettinger give the stranger a pleasant ride down the river and disembark him at a new cement quay near the center of the city from which place boys carry the grips to the various hotels. One is immediately impressed by the cleanliness of the cobble stone-paved streets of the business section and by the handsome though inexpensive structures. It is by far the cleanest city in Chile. With the exception of the buildings on the streets near the Plaza de la Republica, which are of cement construction, all the other buildings are of frame or corrugated iron, or of both, but painted freshly over. The side streets are paved with wooden planks, and in some places with wooden beams, six by sixes. The main industry is brewing. The colossal brewery named Compañia Cerveceria Valdivia, formerly that of Anwandter Brothers, one of the largest in Chile, looms up majestically on the water front across the narrow river opposite the landing quay. The storerooms for this amber and nut-brown beverage are on the city side of the river at the dock. The best hotel in Valdivia is the Carlos Bussenius, named after the host who in appearance could pass as a twin brother of Finsterbusch in Temuco.
Calle-Calle River at Valdivia, Showing Flour Mills
A pleasant trip from Valdivia is the two hours' ride down the river to Corral but another and far grander is that to Lake Riñihue and across the mountains to the wretched hamlet of San Martin de los Andes in the greatly overrated southern part of Argentina known as Patagonia.