About
The Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works are a pair of abandoned nitrate mining settlements in Chile's Tarapacá Region, in the desert north of the country. They are recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and they are known locally as the Oficinas Salitreras Humberstone y Santa Laura.
The site is best understood as a set of ghost towns. Both settlements grew up around saltpeter extraction, the work that once made nitrate a central part of Chile's economy. Today the buildings stand empty, and the visit is largely a walk through what remains of that working life.
What you will see
- The remains of early 20th-century industrial buildings tied to saltpeter production
- Streets and structures that show how the settlements were laid out around the work
- Traces of everyday life that make the scale of the industry easier to picture
Because the places are preserved rather than rebuilt, the visit suits people who like to read a landscape closely and think about how a community lived and worked. It is a quiet, reflective outing rather than a busy one.
Getting there
The site lies near Pozo Almonte, in the Tarapacá Region, and is often reached from Iquique, the main city of the area. Plan the trip around the desert setting: the surroundings are dry and open, so bring water and sun protection. For up-to-date visiting details, the site can be contacted by phone at +56 57 2751938.