In 1520 Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to see Chile. In 1540 Pedro de Valdivia a Spanish conquistador came to Chile where he founded several cities, despite resistance from the Araucanians. One of these cities he founded was Santiago, which is now Chile's capital and largest city. In 1553 the Native Americans led several successful revolts against the Spanish conquerors, killing Valdivia and devastating most of the cities he founded. This lead to nearly 100 years of warfare. Eventually, the Spanish dominated, but even then strife and conflicts continued for many more years.