Nacimiento, city in Bío Bío Province, Chile
Nacimiento is a small city in the Bío Bío region of Chile, situated in a flat valley near the Vergara River. The urban layout features old brick and wooden buildings on quiet streets, surrounded by green spaces and crossed by waterways including the Culenco and Esperanza rivers.
The city was founded in 1603 as a Spanish fort and destroyed several times by Mapuche groups before being rebuilt at its current location in 1749. It gained villa status through royal decree in 1756, and later survived major earthquakes in 1939 and 1960.
The town takes its name from the birth of Jesus, chosen by its Spanish founder in 1603. Today it serves as a center for traditional ceramics and crafts, where local artisans keep alive techniques shaped by both Mapuche and Spanish influences through their daily work.
Visitors can reach Nacimiento easily by bus from the local terminal to nearby towns and cities in the region. The town sits on the well-maintained Route of the Wood, which provides convenient access to natural parks, the old fort, and riverside walks.
The town features a hanging bridge built in the mid-1950s that resembles a giant spine and crosses the river, standing as one of the region's earliest such structures. This bridge remains in use today and showcases an unusual engineering solution from that era.
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