Putre has been Municipal Capital since 1979 and state capital since 1982. The village was built around 1580 by the Spanish people and was responsible for trade between Arica and Potosi.
As testimony to the importance of the historical past of the place a large number and variety of decorative architectural elements in good condition and mostly carved in stone can still be found, such as covers, window sills, corner posts, some streets and sidewalks, and the beautiful, good banks in the road O'Higgins as well as some wrought-iron gates. Because of the special and valuable properties of these elements, which mostly correspond to the mixed-race style, they enabled in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century an enormous growth in the region and increased its fame.
If we try to analyse the current urban structure, we see that the original core of the population used to live in the area of O'Higgins and Baquedano streets. The implementation of the location of the church, which was moved from its original place by the Spaniards, led to today's characteristic appearance of the place.
The village currently has about 1203 inhabitants and 300 houses. The main attractions include its agricultural terraces, the cobbled streets, the church and some houses where the doors are still decorated with carvings.
The Tarapaca and Ancoma volcanos are located near Putre and rise above the landscape to a height of 5,500 m.
Termas de Jurasi:
Channels, one of them leads to an outdoor pool (Jurasi I) and the other to a cabin with a real swimming pool (Jurasi II). Since it is in the water of Hipetermales sources it is believed to be medicinal water and is therefore a good opportunity for recreational purposes. Many tourists come here and as a consequence the infrastructure has improved significantly. The water temperatures are between 53 º and 50 º C, while the average annual temperature is 10 º C only. The springs are located about 10km east of Putre at an altitude of 4.000m.
