Church of San Juan and Church of Detif

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 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 Rilán.

2. 2. Church of Rilán

   Chiloé is an island of rain, wood and faith, lying off the coast of southern Chile across the narrow Chacao channel, and its wooden churches are its great treasure. Built by island carpenters following a tradition introduced by Jesuit missionaries in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and continued by Franciscans, they combine European church forms with local shipbuilding skills, using native timbers and covering the walls with overlapping wooden shingles called tejuelas. Sixteen of them were listed by UNESCO in 2000, and the church of Santa María de Rilán is one of them. It stands on the Rilán peninsula, east of Castro, facing a quiet inlet, its tall tower and painted wooden facade rising above the low houses and green fields of the village.

   Read the complete Church of Rilán write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Church of Rilán comes up about 31 km into the recorded legs. Next is Church of Detif.

3. 3. Church of Detif

   Of all the islands of the Chiloé archipelago, Lemuy is one of the quietest, and the church at Detif, at its far eastern end, stands almost alone on a grassy slope above the sea, with a few houses scattered around and the islands of the inner sea on the horizon. It is one of the sixteen wooden Churches of Chiloé listed as a World Heritage site, built in the late nineteenth century of native wood, with a simple façade, an arcade at the front and a tower rising above the entrance. The interior is equally simple and beautiful, and the church is cared for by the local community, which still uses it for services and festivals, such as the feast of its patron saint.

   Read the complete Church of Detif write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 57 km into the recorded legs you reach Church of Detif. Next is back through Church of Rilán.

4. 4. back through Church of Rilán

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Church of Rilán 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 Rilán, late in the day. Next is Church of San Juan.

5. 5. 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

   Back at Church of San Juan. That is the ride.