Castro

Castro is Chile's third-oldest city in continuous existence. Captain Martín Ruiz de Gamboa founded it during the campaign launched in 1567 to conquer Chiloé and subdue its inhabitants, the Cuncos, naming it Santiago de Castro after the apostle James and the acting Viceroy of Peru, Lope García de Castro. It was the administrative centre of the island until 1767, and in 1594 had some 8,000 inhabitants, most of them farmers. Dutch raiders looted the town several times up to the mid-17th century, and in colonial times it was the site of a small fort system.

In 1767, when Chiloé was placed directly under the Viceroyalty of Peru, the capital moved to Ancud for easier communication with Lima, and it stayed there after Chiloé joined the Chilean republic. An earthquake destroyed Castro in 1837, and by 1907 only 1,243 people lived there. The railway to Ancud, opened in 1912, revived the town, and the Church of San Francisco was built the same year.

The earthquake and tsunami of 1960 destroyed or damaged many buildings, including the railway station, the town hall and many of the palafitos, and the railway was never rebuilt. Castro regained its role as capital of the archipelago only in 1982. In 2000 its church became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Churches of Chiloé, in 2007 the village of Nercón was incorporated into the city, and on 10 December 2021 a fire destroyed several structures and forced residents to evacuate.

Castro's culture is the culture of Chiloé, an island world apart from mainland Chile. Its wooden churches, built in native timber and covered in shingles, are the best-known expression of it: they fuse the traditions of the Spanish Jesuit missions with the building skills of the local people, and sixteen of them across the archipelago, including San Francisco in Castro and the church at Nercón, form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Wood shapes the town in other ways too — the shingled houses, the palafitos over the water, and the boats still built by hand at wharves near the centre and at Nercón.

Island mythology is part of local identity. The Pincoya, the sea spirit of island legend, stands at the centre of the fountain in the main square. Crafts are another: the market on Calle Lillo sells hand-knitted woollens, woodwork and basketry.

The great event of the year is the Festival Costumbrista Chilote, held every summer in the Municipal Park and described as the largest of its kind in southern Chile, with island food, crafts, folk music and customs. The same park hosts a biodiversity fair showing the many potato varieties grown in the archipelago. In sport, Castro has a strong basketball tradition: Deportes Castro won the national league in 2012, and several local football clubs play in the town association.

The city had about 33,000 inhabitants at the 2017 census, and the wider commune about 43,800, making Castro the main town of Chiloé and the service centre for the whole archipelago. As provincial capital it has the government offices, the hospital, banks and shops, and people from the smaller towns and islands come here for business and services.

The economy combines public administration, commerce and tourism with the activities of the surrounding island: farming, fishing and salmon farming, with some 1,400 salmon farms spread among the islands. Visitors come for the churches and palafitos, and some of the stilt houses in Gamboa now hold guesthouses, alongside those still lived in as homes.

The town is built on hills above its inlet, and daily life runs between the square, the waterfront, the markets and the two bus terminals, from which buses run to almost every village on the island. Rain is a constant companion, especially in winter. Access to the mainland is by ferry across the Chacao Channel; the bridge under construction across it is planned to open in 2028 and is expected to change the island's links with the rest of Chile.

Chiloé's cooking is among the most distinctive in Chile. Its signature is curanto, in which shellfish, meat, sausage and potato dumplings are cooked over hot stones in a pit, covered with nalca leaves; milcao, a kind of potato pancake, is cooked with it. The island grows hundreds of native potato varieties, which are shown each year at a biodiversity fair in Castro's Municipal Park.

Seafood is everywhere. The farmers' market on Yumbel street sells fruit and vegetables alongside fish, and the waters around Chiloé produce shellfish and farmed salmon. Restaurants and cafés are concentrated along Calle Blanco, which runs from the main square to the waterfront, and the Festival Costumbrista in summer is the chance to taste island dishes prepared in the traditional way.

Castro's cafés are busiest in the late afternoon, when residents stop for once, the Chilean evening tea of bread, cakes and sandwiches. Chicha de manzana, apple cider, is the old drink of the southern countryside.