History of Santiago, Chile Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pedro de Valdivia

Valdivia explored the lands in South America south of Peru. Previous expeditions to the area failed when explorers could not cross the Andes Mountains. Valdivia instead chose to travel through the Atacama Desert until he reached the Mapocho River valleys and founded Santiago at Santa Lucia Hill.

He named the city Santiago de la Nueva Extremadura after St. James (Santiago) and his homeland of Extremadura. Unlike past conquistadors, Valdivia initially had a good relationship with the natives who lived in the region.

He brought them gifts and treated them well to make up for his predecessors' poor treatment of them and other natives.

Answer: She was a woman

Female conquistadors were extremely rare. Suarez is said to have been Valdivia's mistress. Her Spanish forces were actually outnumbered by the natives but she was succeeded in repelling opposition. Valdivia was away from Santiago at the time and managed to defeat other uprisings outside of Santiago. When he returned to the city, he and Suarez made the final effort to push the natives out of Santiago.

The native uprising was caused when the Spaniards had captured a few native chiefs as punishment for a previously unsuccessful uprising. Freeing the hostages would have prevented the uprising but Suarez refused to give up her only bargaining chips against the natives. The hostages were beheaded, according to legend by Suarez herself. Although the Spaniards were successful, Santiago was nearly totally burned down. Michimalonco fled to the Andes near Cusco but later returned to what is now Chile to align with the Spaniards against the Mapuche Indians who lived south of Santiago.

Answer: The Cirsto de Mayo crucifix's crown of thornes fell to Jesus' neck - despite it being too small to fit around the head

At least 1,000 people died in the earthquake, not including those who died from disease in the aftermath. The Bishop of Santiago, amid talks by the clergy and the people, dismissed the claim that the earthquake was caused by divine intervention to punish the citizens for their sins. Santiago was not physically moved. However government officials did contemplate moving the capital north but decided to rebuild Santiago, instead.

The Cristo de Mayo crucifix hung in the Iglesia San Agustin at the time of the earthquake. The church was damaged but the crucifix miraculously remained intact. However, the crown of thorns Jesus was wearing had slid down to the neck despite the crown being significantly smaller than the head it had to pass over. The crucifix was moved to the house of Catalina de los Ríos y Lisperguer, better known as La Qintrala. The crucifix is still venerated each year on the anniversary of the earthquake: May 13-14.

Answer: Plaza de Armas

The Plaza de Armas was conceived by Valdivia and designed by Pedro de Gamboa. Plaza de Armas was, and still is, the main square in Santiago. All important government buildings were relocated here after the disasters that struck Chile in the 16th and 17th centuries. Councils met at the Palacio de la Real Audiencia de Santiago, which is now the Natural History Museum of Chile.

It was during the 18th century that even more large buildings were built in and around the Plaza de Armas, including the Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral which started construction in 1748.

Answer: Jose de San Martin

Chile was less receptive independence from Spain than its neighbor Argentina. Chile was divided between the criollos (South American born Spaniards who wanted independence) and those loyal to the crown. Argentine general Jose de San Martin knew that all of the South American colonies would have to fight against Spain and that if Chile did not rebel, the independence movement could be weakened. San Martin seized control of Santiago by defeating the royalist forces in 1817 at the Battle of Chacabuco in the Andes Mountains. Once Santiago fell, all of Chile was securely on the pro-independence side of the wars.

Jose de San Martin is called the Simon Bolivar of the south because Bolivar rallied the northern colonies of South America while San Martin rallied the south. Historically speaking, Simon Bolivar became the more famous of the two men even being called the George Washington of South America. San Martin is more popular in Argentina and Chile while Bolivar is more popular elsewhere.

Answer: Demilitarizing Chile

O'Higgins formed a strong army of Chilean forces to achieve independence and then maintain it. Among his many actions during the Patria Nueva period from 1817-1823 were creating a strong national Chilean influence. Chilean property taken by the Spanish was taken back and returned to the Chilean people. Priests who supported an oath to the Spanish Crown were exiled because they were not loyal to Chile. During this time, Peru was plagued by a large number of royalists who were stalling Peruvian independence.

Many of the royalists were people who had fled from other parts of South America. O'Higgins ordered and invasion of Peru to free it from the royalists. The invasion was led by San Martin and later Simon Bolivar.

Answer: Church of the Company

The fire occurred during the Feast of the Immaculate Conception when thousands of people gathered inside and outside the church. The fire started when an oil lamp ignited some of the church's decorations. It was incorrectly blamed for many years on a faulty gas line (leading many people to denounce the then new technology) but this was impossible because the church did not have a gas line. Strong winds fanned the flames, intensifying the fire. Estimates put the total death count at about 2,500 people.

Because of church customs in those days, the men were sitting separately from the women. Most of the men were able to escape but the women and children were mostly trapped. The men who died in the fire were men who went back in to rescue the women and children who could not escape on their own due to jammed doors. Another incident that led to more deaths was that some of the priests blocked the escape route leading to the sanctuary in order to collect the church valuables.

Answer: Valparaiso

Valparaiso was the economic capital of Chile because it was a port city with a good harbor. However, the city was small in size and the land surrounding it was not suitable for farming or to expand the city. An earthquake in 1906 that damaged Valparaiso was what ultimately saw Santiago become the economic center after years of gradual movement in that direction.

Santiago's population more than doubled between 1895 and the 1920s. Over three-quarters of Chile's industrial factories were in Santiago. Almost all of the new residents who moved to Santiago during this time period were farmers from other places in Chile who went to work in the factories. The population boom saw Santiago update its infrastructure. New train stations, parks and attractions were built. The city was modernized and wages rose.

Answer: Salvador Allende

Prior to the coup, Chile was used as a prime example of a free democracy in the Latin American world which was otherwise unstable and frequently seeing leaders ousted in coups by military juntas. Allende's political opponents accused him of establishing a Cuban-style socialist dictatorship in Chile. During Allende's presidency, inflation rose by 140%. Workers from all sectors and industries were constantly on strike.

In March 1973, Allende's party earned the most votes in the Parliamentary elections but the opposition parties banded together to create the majority. Backed by the CIA and other foreign international organizations, the anti-Allende parties started publicly denouncing him. On September 11, 1973 a coup led by Augusto Pinochet overthrew Allende. Allende committed suicide that same day with a firearm given to him by Fidel Castro.

Answer: Flooding

Chile tends to experience longer periods of drought than heavy rains that would cause the flooding. Overcrowding in Santiago has led to an increase in smog and air pollution which has increased breathing problems. Chile lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire and earthquakes are quite common and vary in intensity. The earthquakes have caused some controversy because new buildings are required to be built to resist earthquakes. However, some people find that requirement burdensome and ineffective as many of the building constructed under the new requirements had fallen in earthquakes.

Like in most places at the turn of the 21st century, there was a large wealth gap between the rich and the poor in Santiago. Many wealthier citizens of Santiago moved to the cities suburbs that had cleaner air during this time.