Churches of Chiloé and Church of Rilán

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Churches of Chiloé

   Chiloé is a large, rain-washed island off the coast of southern Chile, a place of mist, green hills, wooden houses on stilts and a culture of its own. The Spanish Jesuits arrived in the seventeenth century, and with few resources they trained local carpenters, who built churches out of native timber using the shipbuilding skills of the islanders. The result is a collection of wooden churches with pitched roofs, covered porches and towers, covered in shingles of alerce or cypress, many painted in bright blue, yellow or white. Sixteen of them are listed by UNESCO, and the town of Castro has one of the grandest, the San Francisco church, built in the early twentieth century, yellow outside and in warm varnished wood inside.

   Read the complete Churches of Chiloé write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Churches of Chiloé is where the day begins. Next is Church of Ichuac.

2. 2. Church of Ichuac

   Chiloe is a large, green, rainy island off the coast of southern Chile, and its wooden churches are among the most unusual in the Americas. In the seventeenth century, Jesuit missionaries arrived to convert the Chono and Huilliche people, and they found a population of skilled carpenters and boatbuilders. The churches that arose from this meeting, built entirely of local timber, with shingles of alerce cypress and pegs instead of nails, combine European plans with the techniques of ship carpentry. About sixteen of them were listed by UNESCO in 2000, and the one at Ichuac is among the most appealing, on the island of Lemuy, a short ferry ride from the main island.

   Read the complete Church of Ichuac write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Church of Ichuac comes up about 18 km into the recorded legs. Next is Church of Rilán.

3. 3. 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

   about 36 km into the recorded legs you reach Church of Rilán. Next is back through Church of Ichuac.

4. 4. back through Church of Ichuac

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Church of Ichuac 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 Ichuac, late in the day. Next is Churches of Chiloé.

5. 5. Churches of Chiloé

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Churches of Chiloé write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Churches of Chiloé. That is the ride.