Churgh of Caguach and Church of Aldachildo

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Churgh of Caguach

   Chiloé is a green, rainy island off the coast of southern Chile, and its wooden churches are among the most remarkable buildings in South America. Jesuit missionaries began building them in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and after the Jesuits were expelled, local carpenters, used to building boats, carried on the work with larch, cypress and native timber, producing churches with shingled towers, porches and curved wooden ceilings like upturned hulls. UNESCO listed a group of sixteen of them in 2000, and the church on Caguach island is a famous one, linked to the pilgrimage of Jesús Nazareno that draws devotees each year at the end of August.

   Read the complete Churgh of Caguach write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Churgh of Caguach is where the day begins. Next is Church of Quinchao.

2. 2. Church of Quinchao

   Chiloé is an island of wooden churches, and the one at Achao on Quinchao island is the oldest of the survivors. The Church of Santa María de Loreto was built in the eighteenth century by Jesuit missionaries and local carpenters, using native timber, cypress and larch, joined with wooden pegs and not a single iron nail. The facade has a long portico with a tower, and the interior, with its vaulted ceiling shaped like an upturned boat hull, shows the skill of the island's shipbuilders. The Churches of Chiloé are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and this is one of the stars.

   Read the complete Church of Quinchao write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Church of Quinchao comes up about 56 km into the recorded legs. Next is Church of Aldachildo.

3. 3. 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

   about 124 km into the recorded legs you reach Church of Aldachildo. Next is back through Church of Quinchao.

4. 4. back through Church of Quinchao

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Church of Quinchao 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 Quinchao, late in the day. Next is Churgh of Caguach.

5. 5. Churgh of Caguach

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Churgh of Caguach write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Churgh of Caguach. That is the ride.