Valparaíso funiculars

There are 16 extant historical elevators (Spanish: ascensores) in the city of Valparaíso in Chile. Technically most of these elevators are bona fide funiculars. Only one of them, the Ascensor Polanco, is a true vertical elevator. They were mainly constructed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.^[1]

View of Valparaíso from the top of the Artillería funicular railway

Description

Valparaíso in Chile, due to the number of hills above the so-called plan has had up to 30 ascensores.^[2][3] Only 16 of them remained extant today and they are declared National Monuments of Chile.^[4] As of 2018^[update] only 7 of elevators are in operation, the other 9 are under a process of restoration and modernisation.^[1]

These extant ascensores are a part of the Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaíso site which since 2003 is included into the UNESCO's World Heritage List.^[5]

The Lecheros funicular in 1941

Below is a list of known elevators (funiculars and the lift) in Valparaiso.^{[6][full citation needed]}

Number from west[7]	Name	Hill name	Date opened	Date closed	notes
03	Arrayán	Cerro Santo Domingo	1905	1964
02	Artillería	Cerro Artillería	1893		December 2014 - active
25	Barón	Cerro Barón	1906
13	Bellavista	Cerro Bellavista	1897	1955
09	Concepción[8]	Cerro Concepción	1883
06	Cordillera	Cerro Cordillera	1887
21	El Hogar		1912	1955
08	El Peral	Cerro Alegre	1902
10	Esmeralda	Cerro Concepción	1905	1962
14	Espíritu Santo		1911		April 2018 - active
15	Florida		1906		Inactive
00	Hospital Carlos van Buren		1929
18	La Cruz	Cerro La Cruz	1908	1992
23	Larraín	Cerro Rodríguez	1906		Inactive
17	Monjas		1912		Inactive
24	Lecheros		1906		Inactive
16	Mariposas	Cerro Mariposas	1904		Inactive
12	Panteón		1900	1952
05	Perdices	Cerro Arrayán	1932	1962
26	Placeres	Cerro Placeres	1913	1971
19	Polanco	Cerro Polanco	1913-1916		Elevator
20	Ramaditas		1914	1955
11	Reina Victoria	Cerro Alegre	1902
07	San Agustin	Cerro Cordillera	1913
04	Santo Domingo	Cerro Santo Domingo	1910	1965
01	Villaseca	Cerro Artillería	1907		Inactive
00	Villanelo		1983		Viña del Mar

External images
The funiculars of Valparaíso on Google Street View
Villaseca
Artillería
Cordillera
San Agustin
El Peral
Concepción
Reina Victoria
Espíritu Santo
Florida
Mariposas
Monjas
Hospital Carlos van Buren
Larrain
Lecheros
Barón
Villanelo
For Google Street View images of the Polanco elevator see its own article.

Further reading

• Barca, Juan Torre (2009). El libro de los Ascensores de Valparaiso. Chile: Cerro Concepcion Editorial Valparaiso.

See also

• Trolleybuses in Valparaíso
• Valparaíso Metro