Fodor's Expert Review Torreón Los Canelos

Just south of the Centro Cultural El Austral lies one of two fortress towers constructed in 1774 to defend Valdivia from constant attacks by the Mapuche. Both towers—the other sits on Avenida Picarte between the bus terminal and the bridge entering the city over the Río Calle-Calle—were built in the style of those that guarded the coasts of Andalusia, in southern Spain. A wall and moat connected the two Valdivia towers in the colonial era, effectively turning the city into an island.