A street trader lays out his wares, artefacts from the nineteenth century nitrate boom, beneath street art depicting the nitrate miners. The ornate painted wooden mansions alongside Calle Baquedano hark back to the heady days of the nitrate boom and the street has been designated a national monument. Situated on the coast at the foot of the 800-metre coastal cordillera, Iquique is the capital of Region 1. During the nitrate boom in the 19th century Iquique became Chile's richest city.