Valparaíso is a port city on the central coast of Chile, built along a narrow strip of shore and across a steep amphitheater of hills around a bay. The Spanish navigator Juan de Saavedra reached the bay and gave it the name that, according to tradition, recalled his home village in Spain. In the 19th century it grew into the leading port on the Pacific coast of South America, serving ships that rounded Cape Horn, and it attracted many foreign merchants and immigrants. Its importance declined after a devastating earthquake in 1906 and the opening of the Panama Canal. The historic quarter, with its funiculars, colorful houses and murals, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, and the poet Pablo Neruda kept one of his houses there.
Before and after
- 18 January 1535Founding of Lima
- 2 June 1535Birth of Leo XI
- from 16 June 1535 to 21 July 1535Conquest of Tunis
- from 1536 to 1953Danish colonial empire
- 1536Founding of Valparaíso
- from 1536 to 1814Denmark–Norway
- from 6 May 1536 to 18 April 1537Siege of Cusco
- 12 July 1536Death of Erasmus
- from 23 July 1537 to 2 October 1540Third Ottoman–Venetian War
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- from 1501 to 1736Safavid dynasty
- from 1520 to 1600Mannerism
- from 1603 to 1868Edo period
- from 1613 to 1762House of Romanov
- June 1644The Manchus take Beijing and found Qing rule
- 1748Excavations begin at Pompeii
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 16th century.