Chanco

Chanco is a village of continuous adobe frontages with long overhanging eaves, protected as a national monument, and the reason it still exists in that form is the forest behind it. Through the nineteenth century the coastal dunes were advancing inland and burying farmland and buildings; from the early twentieth century the German-born naturalist Federico Albert, working for the Chilean state, led a programme of planting to fix them, using pine, eucalyptus and marram, and the Federico Albert national reserve on the dunes is the result. The planted forest was declared a national reserve in 1979. Chanco cheese is made in the district.

History

Chanco began as a seaside settlement on ground once lived on by the Promaucaes, and it was founded as a town in 1889. Through the 19th century the coastal dunes moved east and buried the old village and the crops around it; at the beginning of the 20th century the German botanist and naturalist Federico Albert saved the town from being buried again by planting a large forest to the west of Chanco and moving the town eastwards, and in 1979 that forest was declared a national reserve (Wikipedia, Chanco, Chile).

What's there

• Adobe frontages under long eaves - a village protected as a monument.
• A forest planted to stop dunes - from the early 1900s under Federico Albert.
• A national reserve since 1979 - the planted dune forest.
• Chanco cheese - made in the surrounding district.

When to go

December to March. Half a day.

Practical notes

The village suffered in the 2010 earthquake and reconstruction is uneven. Services are limited. The reserve is a planted forest rather than native vegetation, which is the point but disappoints some. Roads in are long.

Nearby

Constitucion is north along the coast; Cauquenes is inland.

Key facts