Thursday, 24 November 2016 - 12:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: South America / Südamerika Category/Kategorie: GeneralReading Time: 6minutes
Concepción, in full Concepción de la Madre Santísima de la Luz (Conception of the Blessed Mother of Light), is a city and commune belonging to the metropolitan area of Greater Concepción, it is one of the largest urban conurbations of Chile. It has a significant impact on domestic trade being part of the region with most industrialization of the country and politically it has the second majority of representatives in the National Congress of Chile. Its location is in the called Zona CentroSur (Central South Zone), in the geographic center of the country, and it is the capital of the Concepción Province and VIII Bío Bío Region. Greater Concepción (Gran Concepción, including Talcahuano, San Pedro de la Paz, Hualpén, Chiguayante, Penco, Tomé, Lota, Coronel, Hualqui and Concepción) is the second-largest conurbation in the country, with 946,000 inhabitants. Individually, it is the 11th largest commune in the country, with a population of 230,000. Concepción is the second largest city of Chile. The Universidad de Concepción, founded in 1919, became the first secular private university in Chile. The neighboring harbor of Talcahuano is the site of the largest naval base in Chile.
Concepción was founded by Pedro de Valdivia in 1550 north of the Bío Bío River. At that time it was given the name Concepción de María Purísima del Nuevo Extremo (Mary Immaculate Conception of the New End). The new settlement of Concepción was just a few kilometers north of La Frontera (The Frontier), the boundary between Spanish territory and the land of the Mapuche, an American Indian ethnic group that remained independent until the 1870s. The settlement was formally recognized by the Spanish authorities as a town two years later by a royal decree. It was given a coat-of-arms that is still in use today. Earthquakes and tsunamis, which razed the town in 1570, 1657, 1687, 1730 and 1751, led the authorities to move the town to its current site in the Valle de la Mocha, alongside the Bío Bío River; the old site lay empty until March 29, 1842, when the present town of Penco was founded. On February 27, 2010, an earthquake struck the city of Concepción, killing more than 521 people and injuring thousands nationwide. Following the earthquake, geologists relying on global positioning satellite (GPS) data concluded that the city had been displaced roughly 3 meters (9.8 feet) to the west as a result of the event. Fortunately, the city avoided the tsunami that followed the earthquake.
Historically characterized by a strong manufacturing industry, Concepión has also been a major center for distribution and services and the financial basis of the regional economy. Trade in the city is concentrated in the Plaza Independencia (Independence Square), the pedestrian street Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga (built in 1981), and along the major avenues. One such avenue is the Diego Barros Arana street which has developed into the commercial center of the city and the region was until 1907 even known as calle Comercio (“Commerce Street”). New commercial centers are being developed around the old central station and the new civic district as a part of the Chilean bicentennial. A considerable percentage of local trade is taking place in settlements around the city, where there are bustling shopping centers, such as Mall Plaza del Trébol, and where there is a constant commercial development. Other commercial spots, related to food, are the Vega Monumental and Mercado Central de Concepción (Central Market of Concepción) places offering various services and agricultural and livestock products.
Concepción is considered to be the “capital of Chilean rock”, since numerous bands of this genre have been founded in this city, such as the internationally recognized bands Los Tres and Los Bunkers, and the now missing Emociones Clandestinas and Santos Dumont, or heavier rock bands such as Machuca. Also, known musicians have declared that their first massive presentations have been in this city, as is the case of Los Prisioneros. Concepción is also known as “the university city“, for the number of universities that exist and which also represent an alternative to various regions of Chile. This is why there is a feedback effect in Concepción, due to that the city is formed by many young adults coming from other places of Chile. This makes the city to be characterized by a youth culture such as music, art, social demands, etc.
