Valparaíso

Valparaíso rewards those who refuse to stay on the flat. The historic quarter climbs the 42 hills that separate the commercial port from the upper residential neighborhoods, via streets so steep that funicular railways were built in 1883 and are still operating. The funicular Ascensor Artilleria and the manually operated Ascensor El Peral give a taste of the vertical logic of the place, but the best way to feel it is to walk—picking your way up through graffiti-covered staircases, past corrugated-iron houses painted every color, and through narrow passages called pasajes that open suddenly onto Pacific views.

The city's UNESCO inscription in 2003 recognized a 19th-century urban fabric that survives largely intact: the zigzag streets, the hillside morphology, the colorful painted facades, and the Paz-en-el-Mar aspiration that gave the city its nickname jewel of the Pacific. In its golden age from 1850 to 1914, Valparaiso was the main stopover for ships rounding Cape Horn, and the wealth that passed through built the streets of today. The cerros (hills) still carry the imprint of that brief prosperity—awnings, balconies, arched doorways, and tile roofs that recall the European ports that supplied the clipper ships.

The murals are inseparable from the city. The house facades are covered in murals ranging from small stencils to building-sized frescoes, a practice that accelerated after the Pinochet era when art became a form of political expression. The Calle Ahumada street and the Jorge Elias offset contain some of the densest concentrations, but no hill is without its statement. The municipality has supported the mural tradition through public art programs, and contemporary artists continue to use the city as a canvas. The effect is of a living gallery that changes weekly.

The port is still active—container ships and cruise vessels share the waterfront with fishing boats and the navy base. The effects of this maritime traffic on the city's air and soundscape give Valparaiso a different texture from the sanitized heritage zones of other Latin American port cities. The fish market near the Muelle Baron offers fish soup and empanadas de jaiba in a setting that smells of the Pacific.

At sunset, Valparaisenos climb to the terraces of Cerro Polanco or the older 40 Mirador to watch the Pacific horizon turn orange behind the container cranes. This ritual has not changed in character since the clipper ship era, even if the ships have. The view north along the coast to the Los Andes hinterland and south toward the port facilities captures the duality that defines the city: beautiful and industrial, historic and working, picturesque and rough-edged.

The historic quarter's 42 hillside neighborhoods, preserved 19th-century architecture, and functioning funicular railways constitute an urban landscape unique in Latin America.

UNESCO World Heritage designation in 2003 recognizes the city's role as a global maritime hub and its surviving architectural heritage.

The living street mural tradition gives the city a continuously evolving public art character found nowhere else.