Andacollo

Andacollo has been mined since before the Spanish arrived and is still worked, with a large open pit above the town. Its other life is devotional: a wooden image of the Virgin, by tradition found in the hills by an indigenous man in the sixteenth century, is venerated here, and the Fiesta Grande around 26 December brings very large crowds - the figure usually given is around a hundred thousand - with the chinos dance societies performing in front of the basilica. The dance of the chinos, with its flutes and stepping, was inscribed on the UNESCO intangible heritage list in 2014. The basilica dates from 1893.

History

The Inca Empire is thought to have moved people from Tarija in present-day Bolivia to work here, and a gold mine was known by their name, Churumata, in Spanish times. Legend says the Virgin appeared to an Indigenous miner called Collo as a small wooden statue hidden in the rocks and asked for a church, and the town celebrates her every year from December 24 to 26; it was founded as a town in 1891, had a gold rush in the early 1930s, producing as much as 43% of Chile's placer gold around 1935, and the Carmen de Andacollo copper mine, studied from 1971, began production in 1994 (Wikipedia, Andacollo).

What to look for

• A mining town still working - an open pit above the houses.
• The Fiesta Grande at the end of December - about a hundred thousand pilgrims.
• The chinos dance societies - on the UNESCO list since 2014.
• A basilica of 1893 - the focus of the pilgrimage.

When to go

Late December for the Fiesta Grande; year round for the town. A full day.

Practical notes

During the festival the town is completely overwhelmed and accommodation is impossible - most people come for the day. Mining dust affects the town. Outside the festival there is little to see. This is a religious event, not a show.

Nearby

Coquimbo and La Serena are north-west; the Elqui valley is north.

Key facts