CONCA, SEBASTIANO (1679-1764), Italian painter of the Florentine school, was born at Gaeta, and studied at Naples under Francesco Solimena. In 1706, along with his brother Giovanni, who acted as his assistant, he settled at Rome, where for several years he worked in chalk only, to improve his drawing. He was patronized by the Cardinal Ottoboni, who introduced him to Clement XI.; and a Jeremiah painted in the church of St John Lateran was rewarded by the pope with knighthood and by the cardinal with a diamond cross. His fame grew quickly, and he received the patronage of most of the crowned heads of Europe. He painted till near the day of his death, and left behind him an immense number of pictures, mostly of a brilliant and showy kind, which are distributed among the churches of Italy. Of these the Probatica, or Pool of Siloam, in the hospital of Santa Maria della Scala, at Siena, is considered the finest.
CONCARNEAU, a fishing port of western France in the department of Finistère, 14 m. by road S.E. of Quimper. Pop. (1906) 7887. The town occupies a picturesque situation on an inlet opening into the Bay of La Forêt. The old portion stands on an island, and is surrounded by ramparts, parts of which are believed to date from the 14th century. It is an important centre of the sardine, mackerel and lobster fisheries. Sardine-preserving, boat-building and the manufacture of sardine-boxes are carried on.
CONCEPCIÓN, a province of southern Chile, lying between the provinces of Maule and Ñuble on the N. and Bio-Bio on the S., and extending from the Pacific to the Argentine boundary. Its outline is very irregular, the Itata river forming its northern boundary, and the Bio-Bio and one of its tributaries a part of its southern boundary. Area (estimated) 3252 sq. m.; pop. (1895) 188,190. Concepción is the most important province of southern Chile because of its advantageous commercial position, fertility and productive industries. Its coast is indented by two large well-sheltered bays, Talcahuano and Arauco, the former having the ports of Talcahuano, Penco and El Tomé, and the latter Coronel and Lota. Its railway communications are good, and the Bio-Bio, which crosses its S.W. corner, has 100 m. of navigable channel. The province produces wheat and manufactures flour for export; its wines are reputed the best in Chile, cattle are bred in large numbers, wool is produced, and considerable timber is shipped. Near the coast are extensive deposits of coal, which is shipped from Lota and Coronel, the former being the site of the most productive coal-mine in South America. The climate is mild and the rainfall is abundant. Large copper-smelting and glass works have been established at Lota because of its coal resources. The valley of the Itata is largely devoted to vine cultivation, and the port of this district, El Tomé, is noted for its wine vaults and trade. It also possesses a small woollen factory. The principal towns are on the coast and had in 1895 the following populations: Talcahuano, 10,431; Lota, 9797 (largely operatives in the mines and smelting works); Coronel, 4575; and El Tomé, 3977.
CONCEPCIÓN, a city of southern Chile, capital of a province and department of the same name, on the right bank of the Bio-Bio river, 7 m. above its mouth, and 355 m. S.S.W. of Santiago by rail. Pop. (1895) 39,837; (1902, estimated) 49,351. It is the commercial centre of a rich agricultural region, but because of obstructions at the mouth of the Bio-Bio its trade passes in great part through the port of Talcahuano, 8 m. distant by rail. The small port of Penco, situated on the same bay and 10 m. distant by rail, also receives a part of the trade because of official restrictions at Talcahuano. Concepción is one of the southern termini of the Chilean central railway, by which it is connected with Santiago to the N., with Valdivia and Puerto Montt to the S., and with the port of Talcahuano. Another line extends southward through the Chilean coal-producing districts to Curanilhué, crossing the Bio-Bio by a steel viaduct 6000 ft. long on 62 skeleton piers; and a short line of 10 m. runs northward to Penco. The Bio-Bio is navigable above the city for 100 m. and considerable traffic comes through this channel. The districts tributary to Concepción produce wheat, wine, wool, cattle, coal and timber, and among the industrial establishments of the city are flour mills, furniture and carriage factories, distilleries and breweries. The city is built on a level plain but little above the sea-level, and is laid out in regular squares with broad streets. It is an episcopal see with a cathedral and several fine churches, and is the seat of a court of appeal. The city was founded by Pedro de Valdivia in 1550, and received the singular title of “La Concepción del Nuevo Extremo.” It was located on the bay of Talcahuano where the town of Penco now stands, about 9 m. from its present site, but was destroyed by earthquakes in 1570, 1730 and 1751, and was then (1755) removed to the margin of the Bio-Bio. In 1835 it was again laid in ruins, a graphic description of which is given by Charles Darwin in The Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle. The city was twice burned by the Araucanians during their long struggle against the Spanish colonists.
CONCEPCIÓN, or Villa Concepción, the principal town and a river port of northern Paraguay, on the Paraguay river, 138 m. (234 m. by river) N. of Asunción, and about 345 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1895, estimate) 10,000, largely Indians and mestizos. It is an important commercial centre, and a port of call for the river steamers trading with the Brazilian town of Corumbá, Matto Grosso. It is the principal point for the exportation of Paraguay tea, or “yerba maté” (Ilex paraguayensis). The town has a street railway and telephone service, a national college, a public school, a market, and some important commercial establishments. The neighbouring country is sparsely settled and produces little except forest products. Across the river, in the Paraguayan Chaco, is an English missionary station, whose territory extends inland among the Indians for many miles.