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Destruction of the Seven Cities

Settlements of the Conquistadores before the Destruction of the Seven Cities
Anganamón a key Mapuche leader in the Destruction of the Seven Cities. Image from the book Relación del viaje de Fray Diego de Ocaña por el Nuevo Mundo (1599-1605).
A 1646 illustration of La Imperial, one of the Spanish colonial cities destroyed by the Mapuches.

The Destruction of the Seven Cities (Spanish: Destrucción de las siete ciudades) is a term used in Chilean historiography to refer to the destruction or abandonment of seven major Spanish outposts in southern Chile around 1600, caused by the Mapuche and Huilliche uprising of 1598. The Destruction of the Seven Cities, in traditional historiography, marks the end of the Conquest period and the beginning of the proper colonial period.

The Destruction of the Seven Cities had a long-lasting impact on the history of the Mapuche and the history of Chile, determining the shape of future Colonial Spanish–Mapuche relations, e.g. by causing the development of a Spanish–Mapuche frontier.

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