Vina del Mar (Spanish for "Vineyard of the Sea"), also known locally as La Ciudad Jardin (Spanish for "The Garden City"), is a thriving coastal city in central Chile, in the Valparaiso Region and province. The population stands at 318,489 (April 24 2004), making it Chile's fourth largest city. It is best known as a tourist and beach destination (with multiple beaches including Renaca, Las Salinas, Miramar, Casino, and others). One of its key attractions include a gambling casino and a yearly music festival (Festival de la Cancion de Vina del Mar). The city also hosts a yearly ATP tennis tournament in clay courts (Movistar Open). The current mayor is Virginia Reginato.
Vina del Mar is located some 110 km north-west from Santiago (less than two hours' drive), and borders with the port of Valparaiso to the south.
Vina del Mar was declared a sister city of Sausalito, California (a city north of San Francisco), in 1971. To demonstrate the sister city relationship, you can find a square (plaza) called "Vina del Mar" in downtown Sausalito, and a "Sausalito" stadium and "Sausalito" lagoon in Vina del Mar. Vina del Mar is also a sister city of Mar del Plata, Argentina since 1993. There are intentions to create such relationship with Guangzhou, China.
Vina del Mar was one of the four host cities of the 1962 football (soccer) World Cup. It is home to CD Everton, a soccer team in the Chilean Premier division, which took its name from the English team.
The city has benefited from major investments in infra-structure that have greatly improved the traffic flow in the downtown area, specially in routes connecting Vina del Mar with Santiago, Valparaiso and Quilpue. A modern and efficient subway (Merval) connects Vina del Mar with the cities of Limache and Valparaiso, following the original railroad tracks between Valparaiso and Santiago.
History
The valley in which Vina del Mar was founded was known as the valley of Peuco by the Changos, native inhabitants of the area dedicated to fishing. With the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores the valley was divided in two large haciendas. To the north of the Marga Marga creek up to the current location of Renaca, La Vina del Mar and to the south up to the current Cerro Baron (Baron Hill), the hacienda of Las Siete Hermanas (The Seven Sisters).
Francisco Xavier Alvarez authorised the construction of a railroad through his lands to join Santiago and the port of Valparaiso. The arrival of the railroad brought a young engineer Jose Francisco Vergara who married Francisco Xavier Alvarez’s granddaughter, Mercedes Alvarez. It was Jose Francisco Vergara who instigated the idea of the creation of a new city completely independent of Valparaiso. Finally on May 30 1878 the Chilean government authorised the creation of the new city of Vina del Mar.
In 1892 Salvador Vergara (son of Jose Francisco Vergara) commenced the development of the north bank of the Marga Marga creek under the name of Poblacion Vergara, in the location of the current Libertad Avenue.
With the establishment of Refinadora de Azucar de Vina del Mar (Sugar Refining Company), CRAV in 1873 and the arrival of the British company of Lever & Murphy in 1883 gave the necessary economic push to transform the young city in one of the most important cities in the country.
The creation of a military installation, Regimiento Coraceros in 1917, the installation of naval facilities in Las Salinas and the settlement of military and naval personnel in the city furthered the city's growth.
In 1925 the Teatro Municipal was opened in its current location in the eastern front of the city's downtown square, Plaza de Vina del Mar.
In 1928 president Carlos Ibanez del Campo authorised the creation of a casino in the city, securing the future and the touristic character of the city. The Casino Municipal de Vina del Mar was open on December 31, 1930.
On January 31, 1931 the Presidential Palace is inaugurated in Cerro Castillo (Castle Hill) as a summer residence for the President. The touristic character of the city was finally sealed with the inauguration of the O'Higgins Hotel in 1936 and the inauguration of the Miramar Hotel by Caleta Abarca Beach in 1945.
Later a number a number of small industries settled in the eastern part of the city un the suburb of El Salto, including a Coca-Cola bottling facility, meat processing facilities and chemical factories.
During the 1980s a global economic downturn seriously affected the city, a number of small and medium factories went bankrupt, including the stationery manufacturer Coda, and most importantly CRAV and Textiles Vina, two of the biggest employers in the city. Unemployment raised to alarmingly high rates and the military government of General Pinochet failed to take effective measures to combat unemployment. Many factories started to consolidate their operations in Santiago making the situation even worse. The city has failed to fully recover of the blows inflicted by the economic downturn of 1982, but an increase in the number of North American tourists visiting the city and the recent high prices of copper in world markets have started to show signs of an economic recovery.
City landmarks
Visitors and locals enjoy the parks and water fountains of the city, including a large clock (Reloj de Flores) with its numbers made up of flowering plants, near Caleta Abarca beach and Miramar Hotel. The Valparaiso Sporting Club horse racing track is another major landmark. Jardin Botanico or Parque del Salitre is a rather large botanical garden on the outskirts of the city, originally designed and planted by an entrepreneur who got rich from exploiting saltpeter resources in northern Chile. A few buildings from the 1800s still remain after multiple earthquakes that have destroyed most of the old areas of the city. Most of the older buildings that remain are located along Libertad Avenue, Quillota Street and Quinta Vergara, a rather large park in the middle of the city. The presidential summer residence, Castillo Presidencial (Presidential Castle) is located on Cerro Castillo (Castle Hill).
The city's gambling casino is the oldest in Chile and also the most visited and luxurious. The casino was designed with clean art deco lines so influential in the early twentieth century and it is surrounded by magnificent gardens (hence the city's nickname). In 2002 a hotel (Hotel del Mar) was annexed to the 1930 building, resembling the architectural features of the original building.
Palacio Rioja, a magnificent mansion built by Fernando Rioja in 1907, located in Quillota Street, houses an environmental museum. The Fonck Museum, located in Cuatro Norte Street, has a large exhibition of pre-Columbian articles and a large moai (Easter Island statue made of volcanic rock), the only one in mainland Chile, is also on display. Palacio Carrasco, built by Emilio Carrasco in 1912, now houses the Municipal Library and also is used for arts exhibitions. The building is also surrounded by nice gardens adorned with fine sculptures including a Rodin. Palacio Vergara located in Quinta Vergara was built by Blanca Vergara (daughter of Jose Francisco) in 1906 and it is now owned by the municipality. It currently houses the School of Fine Arts and has produced important Chilean artists like the painter Giancarlo Bertini.
Palacio Brunet (also known as Castillo Yarur) was built in 1923 by Adolfo Brunet on Cerro Castillo and later sold to Jose Yarur. Currently it is owned by Carabineros de Chile (Chilean police). It is used as a reception center for illustrious visitors. It was declared a national monument in 2005.
Several educational institutions are located in the city such as Universidad Adolfo Ibanez and the School of Architecture of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso (Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso, PUCV), both located in the beach-suburb of Recreo. The PUCV's Faculty of Education is located in Sausalito near the lagoon of the same name. The Universidad de Vina del Mar, a private university, has a number of campuses across the city. There are a number of private secondary schools, such as Colegio Ruben Castro, The Mackay School, Colegio Sagrados Corazones (Sacred Hearts School), Colegio Seminario San Rafael (Saint Raphael Seminary School) and The Pan-American College, the latter in the suburb of Miraflores Bajo. The Chilean navy (Armada de Chile) also operates several technical schools and a planetarium in Las Salinas, at the northwest edge of the city.
Numerous bars and restaurants have recently opened in the area around Plaza Mexico and Avenida San Martin offering Chilean and international cuisine. Seafood restaurants are located on the Camino Costero (Coast Roadway) that joins Vina del Mar and Con-Con.
Gallery
Image:Margamarga.jpg|Bridge crossing the estuary of the Marga-Marga
Image:CasinoVinadelMar.jpg|Casino Municipal
Image:palacio_carrasco.jpg|Palacio Carrasco, The creation of the Compania
Image:Renaca.jpg|Renaca
Image:PlazaMexico.jpg|Plaza Mexico
Image:Fuegos vina.JPG|New Year's Eve in the sea
Image:EstadioSausalito.jpg|Sausalito stadium
Image:Imagen 002.jpg|Downtown Vina del Mar
Image:EstacionVinadelMar.jpg|Underground Metro station
Image:Rbeach.JPG|Renaca in the month of March
Image:Vina del mar beach.jpg|Beach of Vina del mar
Image:Viewfromvalpatovina.jpg|View from Valpa to Vina Vina del mar
Influential people
The city is the birth place of Alberto Hurtado the second Chilean Catholic saint and founder of the Hogar de Cristo (Home of Christ) foundation, writer Maria Luisa Bombal the author of La Ultima Niebla (The Last Fog), former Chilean president Patricio Aylwin and tennis player Nicolas Massu.
External links
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