Big North
Ruins office salpetre mines Humberstone & Santa Laura (MH)
por
Mar 17, 2009, 12:47

They are two abandoned  nitrate mines that remind the “golden nitrate epoch” in northern Chile  between XIX and XX centuries. There, one can observe how men could overcome obstacles placed by the driest desert in the world and how they were able to  extract the natural nitrate, a relevant key for the world economic development in that period.

Settled just in middle of nothing, corners and walls of these today’s desolated towns  show  a past full of life, splendorous for many people and brave for others. 

Santa Laura and Humberstone were declared World Heritage  by UNESCO in 2005.

fuente:senatur.cl