Pichilemu (Mapudungun: Small forest, pronounced [pitʃiˈlemu] ⓘ), originally known as Pichilemo,[5] is a beach resort city and commune in central Chile, and capital of Cardenal Caro Province in the O'Higgins Region.

The commune comprises an urban centre and twenty-two villages, including Ciruelos, Cáhuil, and Cardonal de Panilonco.

Pichilemu was established as a subdelegation on 16 August 1867, and later as an "autonomous commune" on 22 December 1891, by decree of the President Jorge Montt and Interior Minister Manuel José Irarrázabal.

Part of the city was declared a Zona Típica ("Traditional Area" or "Heritage Site") by the National Monuments Council, in 2004.

[7] Aureliano Oyarzún, professor of pathology at University of Chile, investigated pre-Ceramic middens from Pichilemu and Cahuil.

[9] José Toribio Medina (1852–1930), who was a writer and historiographer, spent most of his life in Colchagua Province, and completed his first archeological investigations in Pichilemu.

[10] San Antonio de Petrel produced leather, jerky, soles, tallow, and cordovan, as well as other products which would later be exported to Peru, or sold in Santiago and Valparaíso.

[10] San Antonio de Petrel was bordered by properties of Lauriano Gaete and Ninfa Vargas, and Pedro Pavez Polanco.

[11] In 1872, President of Chile Aníbal Pinto commissioned the corvette captain Francisco Vidal Gormaz to perform a survey of the coast between Tumán Creek and Boca del Mataquito.

[16] During the Civil War of 1891, Daniel Ortúzar and the priest of Alcones were transferred as prisoners from Pichilemu to Valparaíso via the dock,[17][18] which was later burned.

[11][13] The inheritors of Lauriano Gaete and Ninfa Vargas, who were proprietors of the land which is currently Central Pichilemu, founded the town in late 1891 after conceiving the design of the city with engineer Emilio Nichón.

[18] By decree of President Jorge Montt and his Interior Minister, Manuel José Irarrázabal, the city was officially established as an "autonomous commune" on 22 December 1891.

[19] Agustín Ross Edwards, a Chilean writer, Member of Parliament, minister, and politician,[20][21][22] bought a 300-hectare (740-acre) tract of land, and named it La Posada, in 1885.

[23] After the creation of the Cardenal Caro Province, by decree of General Augusto Pinochet on 3 October 1979, Pichilemu became its capital.

[26] The province is named after the first Chilean Catholic Cardinal, José María Caro Rodríguez, who was born in Pichilemu.

[12][27][28] Pichilemu was severely affected by the 2010 Chile earthquake and its subsequent tsunami, which caused massive destruction in the coastal zone.

[29] On 11 March 2010, at 11:39:41 (14:39:41 UTC), a magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurred 15 kilometres (9 mi) northwest of Pichilemu,[30][31] killing one person.

[32] Pichilemu is located 126 kilometres (78 mi) west of San Fernando, in the westernmost area of the O'Higgins Region, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean.

[34] It is near the Cordillera de la Costa (Coastal Mountain Range) which rises to 2,000 metres (6,562 ft) in elevation.

Based on information from the Casen survey, twenty-four persons living in Pichilemu declared themselves as Aymaras in 2006, and in 2009, 390 people said they were part of the Mapuche indigenous ethnic group; the survey revealed no one living in Pichilemu claimed to be either of the Atacameños or of the Rapa Nui indigenous peoples.

[54] Pichilemu, along with the communes of San Fernando, Nancagua, Chimbarongo, Peumo, San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, Las Cabras, Placilla, Chépica, Santa Cruz, Pumanque, Palmilla, Peralillo, Navidad, Lolol, Litueche, La Estrella, Marchihue, and Paredones, is part of Electoral District No.

The councilors are Danilo Robles Cáceres, Mario Morales Cárceles, Sofía Yávar Ramírez, José Luis Cabrera Jorquera, Tobías Acuña Csillag, and Hugo Toro Galaz.

[57] The police station is located in front of the former Pichilemu post office building, in Daniel Ortúzar avenue.

[11] Although fishing is not very important to O'Higgins Region, due to unsuitable coastlines, it is common in Pichilemu, Bucalemu, and Navidad.

The main access to the forest is in front of Ross Casino, near Paseo el Sol; or by a road near the Colegio Preciosa Sangre.

During its restoration, workers found many historical artifacts, including a copy of Las Últimas Noticias from February 1941 when Ross Casino served as a hotel; an American telephone battery dating from the period of 1909 to 1915; and a tile from the casino's ceiling signed by workers during the building's construction in 1914.

Several surf schools, such as La Ola Perfecta, and Lobos del Pacífico, are located nearby, as is the fish market at Fishermen Creek.

[52] Located south of the town and around the other side of the Puntilla, Playa Infiernillo (Little Hell Beach) is rocky and has tide-pools.

[60] Further south, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from Pichilemu, Punta de Lobos has a beach sheltered from the southern winds.

[87] Two others have ceased publication in recent years: El Expreso de la Costa ("The Express of the Coast"), a monthly newspaper directed by Félix Calderón Vargas, published between 2000 and 2015;[88] and El Faro del Secano ("The Dryland's Lighthouse"), founded in November 2013 by local journalist Óscar Rojas Connell and distributed until 2015.