Prehistory The city of Osorno is built upon
river terraces formed during the last of Earth's geological periods —the
Quaternary. 130,000 years ago, during the transition from the
Santa María glaciation and the
Valdivia interglacial the area of Osorno was covered by
pyroclastic material derivative from large and
explosive volcanic eruptions in the
Andes. The substrate of Osorno is accordingly made of various combinations of
volcanic ash,
lapilli,
sand and
gravel with occasional layers of
peat. There is an adjoining museum and park dedicated to the site.
Old Osorno The city was originally planned to be founded in 1553, under the Government of
Pedro de Valdivia by his companion of conquest, Lieutenant General Don
Francisco de Villagra; with the name of
Santa Marina de Gaete, on the site of a
Huilliche village named
Chauracavi. However, Valdivia's death prevented the realization of this plan before it could materialize. On 27 March 1558, the city was finally founded by governor
García Hurtado de Mendoza, with the new name of
Villa de San Mateo de Osorno, in honor of his grandfather, Count of
Osorno. Osorno is a
municipio in
Palencia province,
Castile and León, Spain. In the summer of 1567, various settlers of Osorno joined
Ruiz de Gamboa's expedition to
Chiloé Archipelago. On December 1575 Osorno was struck by
a major earthquake and the following year hostilities between Spanish and Mapuches, which had begun farther north, reached Osorno. Osorno was destroyed again by the indigenous
Huilliche people in October 1602. The destruction of Osorno forced Spaniards and the remaining indigenous allies to migrate south to the vicinity of
Chiloé Archipelago where Spanish rule was still upheld. Indigenous allies the followed the Spanish on their departure were declared
indios reyunos and became free of encomienda and held the duty to form a
militia. The indios reyunos settled chiefly in
Calbuco and
Abtao. During the crisis that preceded the
Battle of Río Bueno Captain
Ignacio Carrera Yturgoyen penetrated with an army from
Carelmapu north to the vicinity of the ruins of Osorno where his expedition were approached by Huilliches who handed over three "
caciques", allegedly responsible for the murders of the survivors of the
wreck of San José. The plains of Osorno and the whole area between
Valdivia and the settlements of Calbuco and Carelmapu remained
independent indigenous territory closed to the Spanish. The Spanish had thus little information on this territory and had to rely on hearsay. This lack of concrete knowledge of the territory fueled speculations about the
mythical City of the Caesars. These purchases were permitted by local governor
Juan Mackenna, who did however claim to have prevented local Huilliche sell lands they needed for subsistence. With their help, Osorno was made the home of the National Cattle ranch of Chile, boosting the regional economy significantly. Present-day Osorno has preserved 19th century architecture and urban layout, represented by six picturesque houses which have been designated
national monuments. Osorno has a long history of rivalry with
Valdivia, and in a 2006 referendum, the
Osorno Province rejected its proposed incorporation into the new
Los Ríos Region, of which Valdivia is now the capital. In 2019 the water supply system of Osorno was contaminated with 1,100 liters of petrol ushering an sanitary and environmental crisis. The crisis led to the water supply system of Osorno to be shut down from July 10 to July 21. The oil spill also effected
Rahue River.
ESSAL, the private company in charge of the water supply of Osorno, did not specify the reason for the shut down in the first communique. ESSAL was to give total discount of 63,250
Chilean pesos (2019) to each of the 47,519 affected clients. In a
popular consultation held in Osorno following the
2019 Chilean protests over 90% of the participants voted to end ESSAL's concession. Results are however not binding. ==Climate==