Talca

Talca is a city in Chile, capital of Región del Maule. It has 197,400 inhabitants ( 2005).

Talca is located on the Panamerican Highway amidst the wine and fruit growing embossed, fertile plain, about halfway between the Pacific coast and the Andes. The city and its surrounding areas have a relatively rural character.

Geography and climate

Talca is located about 250 km south of the capital Santiago. By Talca flows the Río Claro, which opens later in the Río Maule. The city is located in a basin formed by the valleys of these rivers, and is surrounded by hills.

The climate is Mediterranean, with hot summers from November to April. Winters are rainy and chilly, snow falls in Talca but very rarely.

Around Talca extends the home of Huasos, a kind of Chilean cowboys or gauchos with dreamy haciendas of colonial times.

In the surrounding area there are also many natural beauties in a confined space: a little country idyll, many wineries that achievable with a slow train Pacific coast, unspoilt natural forests and the impressive high mountain panorama of the Andes.

The region is climatically the transition between the warmer and dry north and the cold and rainy south of Chile. In this zone, there is therefore a particularly rich flora and fauna.

History

Talca was founded in 1692 by Governor General Tomás Marín de Poveda. On February 17, 1742 was given the name Villa San Agustín de Talca by Governor José Antonio Manso de Velasco. On June 6, 1796, she received the city rights.

In Talca is also the house in which Bernardo O'Higgins signed the proclamation of the independence of Chile in 1818. It is now a museum. Before Ramon Freire y Serrano had taken the city.

1859 Talca was attacked by the rebels and revolutionary José Ramón Vallejos. On February 22, 1859 Eleuterio Ramirez Molina evacuated the city without acts of war.

On December 1, 1928 Talca hit by a severe earthquake, in which about 100 residents of the town died.

When the earthquake on February 27, 2010 a large part of the historic center were damaged or destroyed. There were fatalities in Talca and the danger of collapse in large parts of the city hospital had to be closed.

Not far from the town is the infamous German -speaking settlement Colonia Dignidad.

Attractions

Up houses found throughout the city in colonial style. The house in which Bernardo O'Higgins 1818, signed the proclamation of the independence of Chile, now houses the Museo de Bellas Artes y O'Higginiano.

Talca is the starting point for excursions in the surrounding region and to Vilches, a park in the Andes.

The area surrounding the town is a tranquil rural idyll with many natural beauties in tight spaces, vineyards, unspoiled natural forests and the stunning high mountain panorama of the Andes.

The Pacific coast is accessible by a slow train.

Economy

Around Talca wine, fruit and vegetables are grown. The weekly market of Talca, where farmers from the region sell their products, is one of the most well-known producer markets of Central Chile.

The city is located on the Pan American Highway, the main highway that crosses Chile from north to south. The road is expanded highway-like in this area of Chile.

In Talca, there are several canning factories and other industrial sites, a university, and three newspapers, El Maule, La Prensa and El Centro. The economy is driven primarily by companies that process agricultural products.

Personalities

Sons and daughters:

• Agustin Abarca (1882-1953), Chilean painter
• Nicolás Andrés Córdova ( born 1979 ), Chilean football player
• Raúl Silva Henríquez (1907-1999), Archbishop of Santiago de Chile and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
• Pedro Opazo (1867-1957), Chilean politician, interim president for a day, 1931
• Aurelio Silva (1866-1923), Chilean violinist and music teacher