Puerto Montt

Puerto Montt. Photo by Lorraine Caputo

By Lorraine Caputo

Puerto Montt is the end of the road for some travelers, and for others a breather before heading to the magical isle of Chiloé or the end of the world in Patagonia. Many will find themselves picking up provisions before the trip south, or restocking and repairing after the grueling adventure up the Carretera Austral.

The city has its bounty of attractions, from museums, like Museo Juan Pablo II and Casa del Arte Diego Rivera, to unique religious and secular architecture. Within an hour are some of the region’s most spectacular national parks, like Vicente Pérez Rosales and Alerce Andino, as well as Puerto Varas, Frutillar and other villages ringing Lago Llanquihue. Puerto Montt also makes a good point from which to visit small places along the Seno de Reloncaví and Pacific coasts.

Puerto Montt, capital of X Región de los Lagos, is the Puerta de entrada a la Patagonia (Entrance to the Patagonia). It is Chile's link with XI Región General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (also called Región de Aysén) and XII Región Magallanes. It is also a strategic transportation hub. Here the Pan-American Highway seemingly ends, yet a short ferry ride across the Canal de Chacao, Ruta 5 continues again to Quellón on the southern tip of Chiloé. The Carretera Austral, Ruta 7, begins in Puerto Montt, wending along the Patagonia coast in strips connected by boat. Ferries depart this port for Chaitén, Puerto Chacabuco, the ice fields of Laguna San Rafael and Puerto Natales.The southernmost train station is here. Daily flights depart from Aeropuerto El Tepual for destinations in the Patagonia and north to Temuco and Santiago. The port is the most important in the south, in transporting both commerce and passengers. Puerto Montt is the departure point for the most exclusive border crossing to Argentina, by way of Lago Todos los Santos.

For visitors familiar with the US’ Pacific Northwest, Puerto Montt may be reminiscent of Seattle, Washington, another great city on a sound complete with a volcano backdrop. The city spreads across a narrow coastal plain that then steeply rises up the flanks for those four hills. From Puerto Montt you see the perfect cone of Volcán Osorno (2652 meters / 8619 feet) to far northeast, behind which is Puntiagudo (2498 meters / 8119 feet), and its neighbor Volcán Calbuco (2015 meters / 6549 feet), a squatter-looking mount with streaks of snow. On a clear day, the snowy peaks of the craggy Andes down the Patagonian coast to the south, along the east edge of Reloncaví Sound, are visible.

Puerto Montt is a young city, but the area has a long history. Seno de Reloncaví (Reloncaví Sound) was a prehistoric inland sea. Remnants of a petrified forest exist at Playa de Pelluhuín. The oldest remains of a human community ever found in the Americas are near Puerto Montt. At the end of the last glacial age 12,500 years ago, a community at Monte Verde left their steps behind 35 kilometers (21 miles) from Puerto Montt on the shores of the Estero Chinchihuapi. Millennia later, at the end of 1852, German immigrants and Chilotes migrating from Chiloé island arrived at Astilleros de Melipulli (meli—four, pulli—hills). With the official founding of the city on February 12, 1853 by Vicente Pérez Rosales, the name was changed to Puerto Montt, in honor of then-Chilean President Manuel Montt. From the port began the re-populating of the Lago Llanquihue area. People looking for a new beginning came from other lands as well, including Spain, France, Sweden, Denmark, Syria and Palestine. At the time of its establishment, Puerto Montt’s economy was based on the exploitation of alerce. Timber continues to be important, as are fishing and shipping.

Like other cities in southern Chile, May 22, 1960, spelled a dramatic change for Puerto Montt. That day’s historic earthquake left the city isolated. It had no telephone or telegraph communications with the rest of the country. Bridges were destroyed. The Pan-American Highway and railroad lines were cut in several places. The port was left without electricity and water throughout the autumn. The outside world would eventually learn that 70% of Puerto Montt was destroyed and 80 persons had died. Puertomontinos cite this as the day their future began.

(Altitude: 14 meters / 46 feet, Population: 153,120, Phone Code: 065)

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