Central stairway
No streets.
Francesco Bandarin — CC BY-SA 3.0 igo · Marcelo Páez Bermúdez — CC BY 2.0 · Francesco Bandarin — CC BY-SA 3.0 igo · Francesco Bandarin — CC BY-SA 3.0 igo
A unique mining town clinging to steep slopes in the Andes at over two thousand metres, built from 1905 by an American company for workers of the El Teniente mine, the world's largest underground copper mine. UNESCO listed it as World Heritage in 2006. It is known as the «city of stairs», because the steep slope left no room for streets or cars, so it was built around a long central stairway branching into steps and walkways to the buildings. Its wooden houses and blocks are painted red, blue, green and yellow, standing out among grey rock and snow. Thousands of workers and their families lived here until the 1970s, with schools, a hospital, a club and a theatre, before moving down to the city of Rancagua in the valley. Today the town holds a museum on mining history and daily life there. It can only be visited on organised tours with a licensed company, leaving from Santiago or Rancagua and needing advance booking and a passport, as the site lies inside a working mine area. Bring warm clothes; young children may not be allowed.
No streets.
Among rocks.
Copper history.
The Andes east of Rancagua, about two and a half hours south of Santiago
No, the site lies inside a working mine area, so visits are on organised tours with a licensed company, booked ahead with a passport.