Colonia Tovar
Encyclopedia
Colonia Tovar is a city located in the Tovar Municipality
of the state
of Aragua
in Venezuela
, 60 km west of Caracas. The town was named after Martín Tovar y Ponte who donated the land over 150 years ago, and was founded by Agostino Codazzi
. The city is mainly known for its Germanic
characteristics, culture, and a dessert called "golfeado", which is very similar to a cinnamon bun. Founded in 1843 by German settlers, the city remained isolated from the rest of the world until 1960, a factor that stunted any technological advances and permitted the inhabitants to keep their culture and traditions. The majority of its residents are descendants of Germans and have a Northern European appearance. The Alemannic
peasant dialect of German
, known as Alemán Coloniero
("colony German"), is becoming more restricted to Black Forest villages in Germany. It is kept alive in Tovar by the many young people from there that spend some time in these villages of their forefathers for vocational training.
Today, 6,000 people live in the village, up from 1,300 in 2003. Colonia Tovar, at about 2000 meters above sea level, has an annual average of 16 degrees Celsius (61 degrees Fahrenheit), and at night it can drop to around 5 °C.
Due to the cool climate and pleasant surrounding countryside, it is now a popular week-end destination for many visitors from Caracas
. Many houses are weekend retreats and second homes. There is a wide range of hotels, restaurants and tourist facilities, many of which are only open on the weekend. The enclave is also a popular day excursion for cruise ship tourists, who typically arrive by bus.
The town and surrounding mountainous countryside have a superficial resemblance to Southern Germany. The visitor will occasionally see Germanic oddities such as waitresses in traditional Bavaria
n dress hawking "torta selva negra
" and the odd "D" plate on some cars but will be unlikely to find anyone who understands German fluently.
Cost of living is higher here than elsewhere in Venezuela. The town depends mostly on tourism and peach
agriculture. The surrounding cloud forests are protected by the Pico Codazzi Natural Monument, though some signs of deforestation are visible due to the high touristic demand from Caracas, and the extraction of tree fern, sold dry for growing orchids. The town is situated on a steep hillside, making the street layout difficult and poorly suited to the heavy weekend traffic. During the week the town can be virtually deserted.
As an interesting observation, most buildings in the area have steeply pitched roofs, a necessity in Germany to ward off any dangerous build-up of snow, but of course, not at all needed in this tropical region, where snowfall is nonexistent. Whether this architectural style was an attempt by early 19th century settlers to replicate German architecture for the sake of nostalgia, or whether they just built the only way they knew, is a subject for discussion. Both effects are likely to contribute, as evident by steep-roofed houses in German Switzerland and flat-roofed ones in Italian Switzerland in townships that may not be far apart, albeit divided by a mountain ridge. Each nationality feels most comfortable in its traditional environment, with "China Towns" in Western cities being the most evident example.
Tovar Municipality
The Tovar Municipality is one of the 18 municipalities that makes up the Venezuelan state of Aragua and, according to a 2007 population estimate by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, the municipality has a population of 17,429...
of the state
States of Venezuela
Venezuela is divided into 23 states , 1 Capital District and the Federal Dependencies that consist of a large number of Venezuelan islands...
of Aragua
Aragua (state)
Aragua State is located in the north-central region of Venezuela. It has plains and jungles and Caribbean beaches. The most popular are Cata and Choroni...
in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, 60 km west of Caracas. The town was named after Martín Tovar y Ponte who donated the land over 150 years ago, and was founded by Agostino Codazzi
Agostino Codazzi
Giovanni Battista Agostino Codazzi was an Italian soldier, scientist, geographer and cartographer...
. The city is mainly known for its Germanic
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
characteristics, culture, and a dessert called "golfeado", which is very similar to a cinnamon bun. Founded in 1843 by German settlers, the city remained isolated from the rest of the world until 1960, a factor that stunted any technological advances and permitted the inhabitants to keep their culture and traditions. The majority of its residents are descendants of Germans and have a Northern European appearance. The Alemannic
Alemannic German
Alemannic is a group of dialects of the Upper German branch of the Germanic language family. It is spoken by approximately ten million people in six countries: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, France and Italy...
peasant dialect of German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, known as Alemán Coloniero
Alemán Coloniero
Alemán Coloniero, spoken in Colonia Tovar, Venezuela, is a dialect that belongs to the Low Alemannic branch of German.-Characteristics:The language, like other Alemannic dialects, is not mutually intelligible with Standard German. It is spoken by descendants of Germans from the Black Forest region...
("colony German"), is becoming more restricted to Black Forest villages in Germany. It is kept alive in Tovar by the many young people from there that spend some time in these villages of their forefathers for vocational training.
Today, 6,000 people live in the village, up from 1,300 in 2003. Colonia Tovar, at about 2000 meters above sea level, has an annual average of 16 degrees Celsius (61 degrees Fahrenheit), and at night it can drop to around 5 °C.
Due to the cool climate and pleasant surrounding countryside, it is now a popular week-end destination for many visitors from Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
. Many houses are weekend retreats and second homes. There is a wide range of hotels, restaurants and tourist facilities, many of which are only open on the weekend. The enclave is also a popular day excursion for cruise ship tourists, who typically arrive by bus.
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n dress hawking "torta selva negra
Black Forest gateau
Black Forest gateau and Black Forest cake are the English names for the German dessert Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte , literally "Black Forest cherry torte"....
" and the odd "D" plate on some cars but will be unlikely to find anyone who understands German fluently.
Cost of living is higher here than elsewhere in Venezuela. The town depends mostly on tourism and peach
Peach
The peach tree is a deciduous tree growing to tall and 6 in. in diameter, belonging to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae. It bears an edible juicy fruit called a peach...
agriculture. The surrounding cloud forests are protected by the Pico Codazzi Natural Monument, though some signs of deforestation are visible due to the high touristic demand from Caracas, and the extraction of tree fern, sold dry for growing orchids. The town is situated on a steep hillside, making the street layout difficult and poorly suited to the heavy weekend traffic. During the week the town can be virtually deserted.
As an interesting observation, most buildings in the area have steeply pitched roofs, a necessity in Germany to ward off any dangerous build-up of snow, but of course, not at all needed in this tropical region, where snowfall is nonexistent. Whether this architectural style was an attempt by early 19th century settlers to replicate German architecture for the sake of nostalgia, or whether they just built the only way they knew, is a subject for discussion. Both effects are likely to contribute, as evident by steep-roofed houses in German Switzerland and flat-roofed ones in Italian Switzerland in townships that may not be far apart, albeit divided by a mountain ridge. Each nationality feels most comfortable in its traditional environment, with "China Towns" in Western cities being the most evident example.
External links
- La Colonia Tovar - Official Website
- Colonia Tovar - Tourism Website of Colonia Tovar
- Colonia Tovar - Main Website