Churches of Chiloe

The Jesuits ran a circulating mission across Chiloe from the seventeenth century, visiting the island communities by boat, and the churches built for them were made by local carpenters using the skills of a shipbuilding population: native timber throughout, frames pegged and jointed rather than nailed, hulls of roof structure that read like an upturned boat, and a standard plan of a portico, a tower and a barrel-vaulted nave. Sixteen of them were inscribed by UNESCO in 2000. The oldest surviving, Santa Maria de Loreto at Achao, is generally dated to the 1740s and is built entirely without metal fastenings.

What you actually see

• Timber churches built by shipwrights - pegged and jointed, not nailed.
• A repeated plan - portico, tower and barrel-vaulted nave.
• Sixteen inscribed in 2000 - spread across the archipelago.
• Achao from the 1740s - the oldest, built without metal.

When to go

December to March, when the roads and ferries are easiest. Several days to see a range.

Honest expectations

The sixteen are scattered and seeing more than a few takes days and ferries. Many are locked outside service times and need a keyholder. Several have been under restoration. These are working parish churches, not museums.

Nearby

Castro is the base; Achao, Dalcahue and Chonchi hold inscribed churches.