This is a mining camp in the Sixth Region, 85 km south of Santiago, embedded in the Andes, 2 200 metres above sea level. It was built by the Braden Copper Company at the beginning of the 20th century and in its heyday it had 15 000 inhabitants but it was abandoned in 1955.
The most striking thing about this construction is that it is situated on a very steep hillside with extreme climatic conditions.
The city was built around an immense, central stairway which connects to the train station, the idea being to facilitate the circulation of wheeled vehicles. This extraordinary structure, along with its location and hostile, environmental conditions, were considered sufficient reasons for Unesco to describe it as ¨an exceptional example of cities `implanted` by industrial companies at the beginning of the 20th century¨. It was granted status as a World Heritage site in 2006.