Valdivia 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 Cau-Cau Rivers, approximately 15 km (9 mi) east of the coastal towns of Corral and Niebla. Since October 2007, Valdivia has been the capital of Los Ríos Region and is also the capital of Valdivia Province. The national census of 2017 recorded the commune of Valdivia as having 166,080 inhabitants (Valdivianos), of whom 150,048 were living in the city. The main economic activities of Valdivia include tourism, wood pulp manufacturing, forestry, metallurgy, and beer production. The city is also the home of the Austral University of Chile, founded in 1954 and the Centro de Estudios Científicos.
Idealized illustration of Pastene from Alonso de Ovalle's "Histórica relación del Reyno de Chile"
Picture of Pedro de Valdivia, conquistador of Chile and founder of Valdivia
Image of Torreón El Canelo restored in the 1850s. It is one of two remaining Spanish towers in Valdivia used to defend the city and one of the few remaining colonial structures.
A painting of the assault on Corral fort
Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, where he served as lieutenant under Francisco Pizarro in Peru, acting as his second in command.
Posthumous portrait by Federico de Madrazo
Alonso de Ovalle's 1646 engraving of Pedro de Valdivia.
Pedro Lira's 1789 painting of the founding of Santiago by Pedro de Valdivia at Huelén Hill.
Alonso de Ovalle's 1646 engraving of Valdivia, Villagra and Alderete.
