Why this ride
From Dalcahue it runs 205 km to Dalcahue; allow about 5 h 07 of riding. The stops in between: Church of Dalcahue, Church of Castro, Church of Vilupulli and Church of Aldachildo.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Church of San Juan and Church of Aldachildo
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 205 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 07
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Chiloe Island Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 35 km this is Chiloe Island Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 35 km
- Named road
- Chiloe Island Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Church of San Juan
San Juan is a tiny village on a sheltered inlet on the east coast of Chiloé, the big green island off the coast of southern Chile, and its wooden church stands right by the water, painted white with a tall tower, looking out over the boats moored in the channel. It is one of the sixteen Churches of Chiloé on the World Heritage list, a unique school of wooden architecture that grew out of the Jesuit missions of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and was continued by the Franciscans and the islanders themselves. The churches were built by local carpenters using native woods, with techniques borrowed from boat building, and many of them are covered in wooden shingles. Inside, the vaulted ceilings often look like the hull of an upturned ship.
Read the complete Church of San Juan write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of San Juan is where the day begins. Next is Church of Dalcahue.
2. Church of Dalcahue
Chiloé is a damp, green island off the coast of southern Chile, and its wooden churches are its soul. The Church of Dalcahue stands on the waterfront of a small town on the eastern side of the island, facing the inner sea and the islands of the archipelago, with a long arcaded porch along its front and a tall tower rising above. Built entirely of wood, with shingles cut from native trees, it is one of sixteen churches inscribed in 2000 as the Churches of Chiloé.
Read the complete Church of Dalcahue write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of Dalcahue comes up about 35 km into the recorded legs. Next is Church of Castro.
3. Church of Castro
Castro's church is the first thing that makes visitors to Chiloé stop talking. San Francisco stands on the Plaza de Armas of the island's capital, a big building with a corrugated-metal skin painted in yellow and violet, two towers and a wooden interior that is mostly hand-cut native timber. It was built in the early twentieth century to replace an earlier church that burned, by an Italian architect, and it is one of the sixteen Chiloé churches that UNESCO listed in 2000. The rest are mostly smaller and older, scattered along the coast, built by Jesuit missionaries and their Chilote carpenters, who were boat builders first and used what they knew. If you tip your head back inside, the vaulted ceiling looks like an upturned hull.
Read the complete Church of Castro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 54 km into the recorded legs you reach Church of Castro. Next is Church of Vilupulli.
4. Church of Vilupulli
On the island of Chiloé, in southern Chile, the churches are made of wood, and the whole archipelago has been built around that fact. Vilupulli is one of the sixteen churches that UNESCO lists as an exceptional example of a local tradition, combining European ideas with the shipbuilding skills of Chilote carpenters. Jesuit missionaries arrived in the seventeenth century and planned a circuit of chapels, and after they were expelled the communities kept them going, with local families caring for the buildings and holding festivals. The result is a string of timber churches with plank walls, shingled towers and painted interiors, each in a fishing village or on a quiet inlet.
Read the complete Church of Vilupulli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of Vilupulli, about halfway. Next is Church of Aldachildo.
5. Church of Aldachildo
Aldachildo is another of the small wooden churches on Lemuy, and it asks you to think about how the Chilote churches were actually used. They were not built for tourists, or even mainly for Sundays. When Jesuit missionaries began to organise the islands in the seventeenth century, they did not have enough priests to be everywhere. So they trained local laymen to look after chapels, lead prayers and baptise, and the missionaries themselves sailed round the circuit once a year, on a kind of pilgrimage that the communities still remember with an annual festival. After the Jesuits were expelled in the eighteenth century, those lay guardians kept the system alive.
Read the complete Church of Aldachildo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of Aldachildo sits at 76 km, about halfway. Next is back through Church of Vilupulli.
6. back through Church of Vilupulli
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Church of Vilupulli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Church of Vilupulli comes up about 131 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Church of Castro.
7. back through Church of Castro
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Church of Castro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 151 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Church of Castro. Next is back through Church of Dalcahue.
8. back through Church of Dalcahue
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Church of Dalcahue write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Church of Dalcahue, late in the day. Next is Church of San Juan.
9. Church of San Juan
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Church of San Juan write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 205 km.
Leg by leg
Church of San Juan to Church of Dalcahue
Church of San Juan → Church of Dalcahue is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of Dalcahue to Church of Castro
Church of Dalcahue → Church of Castro is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of Castro to Church of Vilupulli
Church of Castro → Church of Vilupulli is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of Vilupulli to Church of Aldachildo
Church of Vilupulli → Church of Aldachildo is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of Aldachildo to back through Church of Vilupulli
Church of Aldachildo → back through Church of Vilupulli is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Church of Vilupulli to back through Church of Castro
back through Church of Vilupulli → back through Church of Castro is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Church of Castro to back through Church of Dalcahue
back through Church of Castro → back through Church of Dalcahue is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Church of Dalcahue to Church of San Juan
back through Church of Dalcahue → Church of San Juan is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.