Lota

Lota's coal was worked from the middle of the nineteenth century by the Cousino family, and the workings ran out under the Pacific - miners walked kilometres out beneath the seabed to the face. The Chiflon del Diablo pit is now toured by former miners, who take visitors down and explain the work, which gives the visit a directness that a curated museum would not have. Above the town is Parque Isidora Cousino, laid out from the 1860s by Isidora Goyenechea with plants brought from Europe and Asia and statues along its paths. The mines closed in 1997 and the town has struggled badly since.

History

The governor Ángel de Peredo founded the first Spanish settlement here, Santa María de Guadalupe, on 12 October 1662, but it did not last long. Coal mining began in the 19th century, when steamships calling at Talcahuano bought the coal, and the industrialist Matías Cousiño started mining at Lota in 1852, turning a thinly settled frontier into an industrial town; Lota became a town on 5 January 1875 and a city on 30 November 1881, and the mines, which had followed the seams under the seabed, were closed by the state coal company in 1997 and then flooded (Wikipedia, Lota, Chile).

The main sights

• A pit running under the sea - miners walking out beneath the seabed.
• Tours given by former miners - the men who worked the face.
• Parque Isidora Cousino - laid out from the 1860s above the pits.
• A town after closure - the mines shut in 1997.

When to go

December to March. A full day.

Things to know

The mine tour goes underground in a working-condition shaft - it is cramped, dark and not for the claustrophobic. Lota is a poor town and looks it. Tour times are limited. The park has suffered from earthquake damage and funding gaps.

Nearby

Concepcion is north; Canete and the coast run south.

Key facts