Travel Guide Belen

This village of 150 inhabitants at 3 240 m of altitude has an obvious historical interest: it is the only village of the Chilean Altiplano not to have been inhabited by natives before the conquest. Indeed, the Spaniards decided to build a village there, in 1625, on the silver road between Potosí and Arica. Its colonial past is well preserved and easily identifiable thanks to the paved and ordered streets. Here, the houses are also made of adobe. Two churches can be seen: the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Belén, the smaller and older one, and the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Carmen dating from the 18th century.