Outings and excursions · Vicuña
Montegrande and Pisco Elqui: in the footsteps of Gabriela Mistral
Photos: Magololo / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The villages of the inner Elqui Valley where the poet spent her childhood and where she chose to rest.
Gabriela Mistral was born in Vicuña, but she considered Montegrande her home town: she lived there between the ages of three and nine, and asked to be buried there. Driving up the valley from Vicuña to Montegrande and Pisco Elqui retraces her story.
Montegrande
This small village in the commune of Paihuano has been a Typical Zone since 1990. After the poet's death in 1957, her remains were moved in 1961 to a mausoleum in Montegrande, which can be visited today.
Pisco Elqui
A few kilometres further up, the old village of La Unión, now Pisco Elqui, has adobe houses, pisco distilleries and clear skies.
Tips
- Combine the trip with a night of stargazing in the valley.
- Bring sunscreen: the Elqui sun is intense.
