Yerbas Buenas

Yerbas Buenas is a Chilean town and commune in Linares Province, Maule Region. It lies in the geographical center of the country, on the fertile central plain, some 300 km south of Santiago, 50 km south of Talca, the regional capital and 12 km north of Linares, the provincial capital.

Demography

The municipality of Yerbas Buenas has a population of 16,134 (2002 census), of which more than 1,600 live in the town of Yerbas Buenas. The municipality has a very high proportion of rural inhabitants, close to 90%.

Geography

The municipality covers an area of 262 km². Its entire territory lies within the central plain or "depresión intermedia", (Chilean Central Valley). Yerbas Buenas is bordered on the west by San Javier and Villa Alegre, on the north by San Clemente, (Province of Talca); on the east, by Colbún, and on the south, by Linares. The town of Yerbas Buenas is located 12 km to the north of the city of Linares, the provincial capital.

Geographic Coordinates

* Altitude: 139 mt.
* Latitude: 35º 45' 00"S
* Longitude: 071º 34' 59"

Heritage

Yerbas Buenas is a beautiful and historical town with a remarkable cultural heritage and a distinctive architecture. The town is a typical example of the well preserved rural colonial architecture found sometimes in small towns and in large haciendas (farms) in Latin America.

Historical Museum

The Historical Museum of Yerbas Buenas is housed in a beautiful and well preserved colonial building that is not only one of the oldest surviving in the town and province but also a silent witness of the dawn of Chile's independence. This was the house where the Spanish brigadier Antonio Pareja, commander of the royalist army, stayed on the night of April 26, 1813, the eve of the first significant military encounter between the royalist and the patriot armies in the independence struggle of Chile. Colonel Juan de Dios Puga, the commander of the patriot force, was killed in the battle as was one third of his army.

This building became a National Historic Monument on August 22, 1984 and the sector of the town around the building has been declared a "Typical Zone" ("Zona típica").

Local administration

The mayor of Yerbas Buenas is Mr. Luis Cadegán Morán (PRSD). The municipal council is composed by the following persons:
* Eva Palma Leal (Renovación Nacional)
* Sergio Toledo Durán (UDI)
* Luis Guzmán Trujillo (Radical Social Demócrata)
* Sergio Muñoz Espinosa (Radical Social Demócrata)
* Rigoberto Muñoz Jaque (Partido por la Democracia)
* Eliana Parada Yáñez (Partido Socialista)

External links

* [http://www.dibam.cl/subdirec_museos/mhy_buenas/home.asp Yerbas Buenas Museum of History] . (Spanish)
* [http://fallingrain.com/world/CI/11/Yerbas_Buenas.html Maps, weather for Yerbas Buenas, Maule Region]
* [http://local.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Yerbas+Buenas,+Maule+Chile&ie=UTF8&sll=-35.736411,-71.563654&sspn=0.136553,0.220757&z=15&ll=-35.744074,-71.579275&spn=0.017067,0.041585&t=h&om=1 Google map of Yerbas Buenas]