A nicely situated, if unattractive city on the Chilean coast, Puerto Montt is home to 175,000 people and the heart of Chile’s salmon farming industry (the second largest in the world after Norway). It makes a good entry point to the Llanquihue Province with it’s many lakes, and the far more attractive Puerto Varas is only 20 minutes drive away. It is also rather close to the impressive (and active, last erupting spectacularly in 2015) Calbuco volcano.
The main built landmark of the city is the huge Ripley shopping mall. It’s not often that you get to photograph a shopping mall with a snow capped volcano in the distance behind it.
The waterfront is sporadically pleasant, the highlights being this digger and train. The lowlight being the piece of hideousness below, which apparently the locals are proud of…
The oldest building is the wooden Cathedral de Puerto Montt, though I think I preferred the neighbouring pink and green home of local government. Better than both though by some distance was this beautiful yellow church.
There were rather a lot of decrepit buildings around the place. A major earthquake in 1960 destroyed most of the Alpine architecture dated back to the 19th century German settlers, though much remains in Puerto Varas, 20 minutes north.
To finish with a giant illuminated cross the hillside, surprisingly common in Chile, the very average market along a busy road along from the port, and a view from the hillside over the city.
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