Chacao, Colonial village in northern Chiloé Island, Chile

Chacao is a settlement positioned along the Chacao Channel, the body of water separating Chiloé Island from mainland Chile. A ferry service runs regularly across this waterway, making this location the main entry point to reach the island from the north.

The settlement was founded in 1567 as San Antonio de Chacao and served as an administrative center during the Spanish colonial period. Military and governmental personnel relocated here in 1655, establishing it as a fortified location guarding the strait.

The Iglesia Matriz de San Antonio de Chacao, with two wooden towers, dates from 1710 and faces the plaza where two cannons from the vanished Remolinos Battery are displayed. A few kilometres east, Chacao Viejo marks the first Spanish site, where another wooden church stands atop an earthen wall of the old colonial fort, with two period cannons beside its plaza.

The ferry dock linking Chacao with Pargua on the mainland operates all year, so allow for queues at peak times. The village is small and walkable; the church and plaza stand in the centre, while Chacao Viejo lies about two kilometres east along the coast.

Colonial-era cannons from the Remolinos Battery stand on the central plaza as physical reminders of the settlement's military role. These bronze pieces remain visible tokens of when this place served as a defensive outpost protecting the channel.