Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Satuday

Day 31: Take me down to Imperial City

Pedro de Valdivia was a conquistador who was also the first royal governor of Chile. His time in South America was focused mostly on fighting indigenous peoples and founding cities. Two of those cities - Santiago and Concepción - still exist today.

One that doesn't is La Imperial (or Ciudad Imperial), which de Valdivia founded on April 16, 1552. While the plan was for it to be a major city of New Spain, it came under attack during the Mapuche Rebellion of 1598 and during the War of Arauco and was eventually destroyed. The city was finally abandoned in 1600.

In its wake, though, rose two new cities - Carahue and Nueva Imperial - though they weren't established until the late 19th century.