Abstract

In the year 2000, UNESCO included sixteen churches of Chiloe’s archipelago in the World Heritage List. They represent an outstanding example of religious architecture which represents a constructive tradition, named Escuela Chilota de Arquitectura. This tradition was introduced by Jesuit missionaries along XVIIth and XVIIth centuries and it was followed by Franciscans in the XIXth century . These churches express Chiloe´s cultural richness, based on a successful mixture of indigenous and European cultures which still prevails. Furthermore, they constitute a singular example of landscape and architecture integration. Geographical structure and cultural constructions combine in Chiloe’s landscapes. These constructions relate to the history of Chile’s colonization, indigenous peoples, missionaries and South Pacific navigation. This article focuses on Chiloe’s churches as essential elements of a unique cultural landscape. It is the outcome of an adaptive process to a complex, far-off territory and a singular colonization modality based on missional pilgrimage. Unfortunately, the scale of different contemporary interventions and urban processes are affecting Chiloe’s landscape, weakening the importance of churches as key components of landscape.