There are few places in the world in which man feels as vulnerable and surrounded by a mystic aura of spirituality as Cape Horn. Its location between two oceans at 55°56’ South latitude and 67°19’ West longitude, along with the intensity of the climatic phenomena that occur there, make its passage a unique and incomparable experience. 

Entire books have been written about the difficulties that the sailing ships of yesteryear had in traveling around Cape Horn. The extraordinary feats and countless dramas that took place there can be illustrated by three pieces of information: 

European eyes first set sight on Cape Horn at the beginning of the 17th century. In the small port of Höorn, the French merchant, Isaac Le Maire, and the sailors, Guillermo Cornelio and Juan Schouten, signed the constitution of the Southern Company and outfitted two ships: the 360-ton Endracht (Unity) and the 110-ton Höorn, which sailed from Texel, Netherlands on June 14, 1615. 
 

The Cape Horn Monument was solemnly inaugurated on December 5, 1992. It was erected as an initiative of the Chilean chapter of the Chilean Association of Cape Horniers, in memory of the seamen from every nation who perished in the battle against inclemency of nature in the southern seas around the legendary Cape Horn. 

This seven-meter-high monument consists of two independent pieces each made of five steel plates, and is the work of the Chilean sculptor José Balcells Eyquem. The plans and construction were carried out by the Chilean Navy under the basic premise that the structure would have to withstand gusting winds of up to 200 kilometers per hour (125 mph). The construction took more than a month, between October and November 1992.