Why this ride
On the way it passes Church of Aldachildo, Church of Detif, Church of Ichuac and Church of Quinchao.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Churgh of Caguach and Church of Ichuac
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 403 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 20
- 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: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 0 km into the recorded legs. Next is Church of Aldachildo.
2. 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 64 km into the recorded legs you reach Church of Aldachildo. Next is Church of Detif.
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
Church of Detif, about halfway. Next is Church of Ichuac.
4. 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 sits at 235 km, about halfway. Next is back through Church of Detif.
5. Back to 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 Detif comes up about 275 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Church of Aldachildo.
6. back through Church of Aldachildo
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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 339 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Church of Aldachildo. Next is back through Church of Quinchao.
7. 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.
Leg by leg
Church of Quinchao to Church of Aldachildo
Church of Quinchao → Church of Aldachildo is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of Aldachildo to Church of Detif
Church of Aldachildo → Church of Detif is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of Detif to Church of Ichuac
Church of Detif → Church of Ichuac is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of Ichuac to Back to Church of Quinchao
Church of Ichuac → Back to Church of Quinchao is 101 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Church of Aldachildo to back through Church of Quinchao
back through Church of Aldachildo → back through Church of Quinchao is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.