Santa María Island, Chile

Santa María is a Chilean sparsely inhabited island located off the coast of Coronel. Santa María has been witness of important events of the history of Chile and the world.HistorySanta María Island was called Tralca or Penequen by their Mapuche inhabitants and she was discovered, for the Europeans, by Juan Bautista Pastene possibly seen in 1544, but in any case in 1550, during his second voyage.Thomas Cavendish sacked and looted the dependencies in 1586, during his first voyage.Later, also pirates from Netherlands, Joris van Spilbergen, Simón de Cordes, Hendrik Brouwer anchored at the island and they were supplied with fresh water and wood.In 1642, the Dutch East India Company joined the Dutch West Indies Company in organizing an expedition to Chile to establish a base for their trade at the west coast of South America. Valdivia. Chiloé Island and Santa María Island came into consideration because they were isolated from Chile but with harbours. Valdivia, like all cities south of Bío Bío River, had been abandoned by Spaniards and destroyed by the Mapuches in 1599 during the Destruction of the Seven Cities.