Mancera Island () is a minor island at the mouth of
Valdivia River in
Corral Bay.
Prior to being named after the Marquis of Mancera the island was known as ''Güiguacabin'' (from ''ühueñn'', "whistle", or ''ühua'', "maize", and ''cahuin'', "party") to the indigenous Mapuches. In his 1544 expedition
Juan Bautista Pastene, made the island known for the Spanish and named it ''Imperial''. Later the island became known to the Spanish as ''Constantino'' after its owner Constantino Pérez, then it was known for a time as ''Santa Ines''. The name finally settled as Mancera after the Spanish
viceroy of Peru Pedro de Toledo, 1st Marquis of Mancera, who ordered the fortification of the island.
The fort in Mancera Island begun to be built in 1646 receiving the names ''Castillo de San Pedro de Alcántara de Mancera'' or simply ''Castillo de Mancera''.
The fort was a vital point in the
Valdivian Fort System, allowing with the aid of the forts in
Corral and
Niebla to
crossfire
A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I.
...
any ship attempting to sail upstream to the city of
Valdivia
Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder, Pedro de Valdivia, and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and ...
.
In 1682, after Valdivia was badly damaged by a fire it was proposed to move the city to Mancera Island. A similar proposal of moving the city to Mancera Island was done in 1721 in order to protect it against a potential British attack as Spain and Britain were
at war. As result of the partial, and eventually reversed move of Valdivia to the island, in the 18th century Mancera Island achieved for a while an upsurge of population and the establishment of numerous buildings made of bricks and wood. At its height in the 18th century, the fort had twenty cannons and hosted one church and two
convent
A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community.
The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...
s.
[ The decline in importance of Mancera Island in the fort system meant that by 1820, when Corral Bay was attacked by Patriots, it hosted only a small garrison and one battery of six cannons.][Angulo, S.E. (1997). "La Artillería y los Artilleros en Chile. Valdivia y Chiloé como antemural del Pacífico". ''Militaria: revista de cultura militar'', 10, pp. 237-264]
File:Fachada de iglesia franciscana en Mancera.jpg, Ruins of the Franciscan convent in the island
File:Corralmancera.JPG, Position of Mancera Island in Corral Bay. View from Corral.
File:Muelle_de_Mancera.JPG, Pier of Mancera Island
See also
* Valdivian Fort System
* Capture of Valdivia
The Capture of Valdivia () was a battle in the Chilean War of Independence between Royalist forces commanded by Colonel Manuel Montoya and Fausto del Hoyo and the Patriot forces under the command of Thomas Cochrane and Jorge Beauchef, held on ...
References
Islands of Los Ríos Region
River islands of Chile
Coasts of Los Ríos Region
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