Today I visited a few of Iquique's sights. First, the municipal theater. The theater is great in that it is not only beautiful, but also let's visitors take pictures and roam freely around the entire building. Consequently, I got to stand on the stage - nice view from up there, isn't it?
I also discovered that at least this particular stage is not entirely horizontal, but has a slight downward angle. Maybe this improves visibility of the back of the stage for the audience?
I also got to go below the stage. There, they keep the original wooden contraptions they used more than 100 years ago to move stage decorations. Fascinating!
Next, I stopped by the cathedral, but unfortunately the church was closed, so I only got to see its outside:
Finally, I visited Iquique's regional museum. Next to the remains of an ancient culture living in the area, they also have exhibits from a far more recent part of history: saltpeter mining. Saltpeter can be used as fertilizer and for gunpowder production, which explains why it was considered important enough to fight a war over.
According to the museum, today Chile is the only country in the world that has saltpeter as a natural resource. Most of the saltpeter mines were gained in the Pacific war - before that, the corresponding territories belonged to Peru and Bolivia. So while Chile became rich on saltpeter exports, Peru and Bolivia... didn't.
The history of saltpeter extraction is quite interesting. They implemented new methods of extraction several times to increase productivity, but at some point were made almost obsolete when German chemists discovered how to manufacture synthetic saltpeter.
The workers in the saltpeter companies were apparently not paid in regular money, but in company-made tokens - which the museum has a huge collection of. These tokens were valid only in the company's shops. When the workers wanted to exchange them for real currency, the companies deducted a hefty fee of 50% of the tokens' worth. No wonder that the workers united at one point and marched to Iquique to demand improvement of their conditions - a strike that ended in a massacre...
Another interesting part of the museum was the archive room. I stumbled upon the room by chance, but was immediately drawn to all the super-sized books inside. When I asked the archive keeper what they were, he explained that they contain newspapers. He showed me the book for October 1939. Every day, they had a new piece of bad news about warmongering Germany on the front page, while the inside was filled with other news, movie ads, etc. What a fascinating outside glimpse at German history!
I also discovered that at least this particular stage is not entirely horizontal, but has a slight downward angle. Maybe this improves visibility of the back of the stage for the audience?
I also got to go below the stage. There, they keep the original wooden contraptions they used more than 100 years ago to move stage decorations. Fascinating!
Next, I stopped by the cathedral, but unfortunately the church was closed, so I only got to see its outside:
Finally, I visited Iquique's regional museum. Next to the remains of an ancient culture living in the area, they also have exhibits from a far more recent part of history: saltpeter mining. Saltpeter can be used as fertilizer and for gunpowder production, which explains why it was considered important enough to fight a war over.
According to the museum, today Chile is the only country in the world that has saltpeter as a natural resource. Most of the saltpeter mines were gained in the Pacific war - before that, the corresponding territories belonged to Peru and Bolivia. So while Chile became rich on saltpeter exports, Peru and Bolivia... didn't.
The history of saltpeter extraction is quite interesting. They implemented new methods of extraction several times to increase productivity, but at some point were made almost obsolete when German chemists discovered how to manufacture synthetic saltpeter.
The workers in the saltpeter companies were apparently not paid in regular money, but in company-made tokens - which the museum has a huge collection of. These tokens were valid only in the company's shops. When the workers wanted to exchange them for real currency, the companies deducted a hefty fee of 50% of the tokens' worth. No wonder that the workers united at one point and marched to Iquique to demand improvement of their conditions - a strike that ended in a massacre...
Another interesting part of the museum was the archive room. I stumbled upon the room by chance, but was immediately drawn to all the super-sized books inside. When I asked the archive keeper what they were, he explained that they contain newspapers. He showed me the book for October 1939. Every day, they had a new piece of bad news about warmongering Germany on the front page, while the inside was filled with other news, movie ads, etc. What a fascinating outside glimpse at German history!
