La Imperial or Ciudad Imperial was a city founded by Pedro de Valdivia on 16 April 1552 and named in honor of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, then (also) king of Spain. It was abandoned on 5 April 1600 and destroyed as a result of the Mapuche Uprising of 1598 during the War of Arauco. The ruins ('old city') were called Antigua Imperial. A city was refounded there in 1882 under the name Carahue.