The forts of Valdivia: Theory and methods in the restoration of Chile's colonial ruins (1950-54)

In the mid-twentieth century, the colonial forts built by Spain near the city of Valdivia in southern Chile became the subject of the country’s first state-funded restoration projects. Dating back to the seventeenth century and reflecting Spanish design, architecture and construction methods of the period, these forts were among the first Chilean national monuments to receive protected status during the 1920s. The country’s first legislation on the protection of architectural heritage was passed in 1925 and provided guidance for returning monuments to their original state and style (Decree No. 3,500, 1925). Following several decades of documentation and protection of monuments, in the 1950s, the National Monuments Council launched the first state-funded restoration projects under a second piece of legislation (Decree Law No. 651, 1925). These public works followed a specific methodology of built heritage intervention and were based on prior studies and in-depth historical research into the sites in question. Rather than focusing on style, early projects followed scientific principles of restoration based on a historical-documentary approach used to identify suitable fragments for potential reconstruction. This article examines the work carried out at the ruined forts of Valdivia between 1950 and 1954 and offers an account of the technical and theoretical approaches taken.