Tovar Municipality
Encyclopedia
The Tovar Municipality is one of the 18 municipalities
(municipios
) that makes up the Venezuela
n 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. The town of La Colonia Tovar is the shire town
of the Tovar Municipality.
. The town was named after Martín Tovar y Ponte who donated the land over 100 years ago. The town is mainly known for its Germanic
characteristics, culture, and a dessert called "golfiado", which is very similar to a Cinnamon roll
. Founded in 1843 by German settlers, the city remained isolated from the rest of the country for decades, a factor that 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 dialect of German
, known as Alemán Coloniero
("Colonial German"), is nearly extinct.
Today, 6,000 people live in the main village, up from 1,300 in 1963.
Due to the cool climate and pleasant surrounding countryside, it is 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 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.
(61 degrees Fahrenheit
), and at night it can drop to around 5 °C.
agriculture. The surrounding cloud forests are protected by the Pico Codazzi Natural Monument, though some signs of deforestation are visible due to the high tourist 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.
; Capital Tovar.
Municipalities of Venezuela
Municipalities of Venezuela are divisions of the states.-Amazonas:#Alto Orinoco #Atabapo #Atures #Autana #Manapiare #Maroa...
(municipios
Municipio
Municipio and Município are terms used for country subdivisions. They are often translated as municipality.-Overview:...
) that makes up the 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...
n state 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...
and, according to a 2007 population estimate by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, the municipality has a population of 17,429. The town of La Colonia Tovar is the shire town
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of the Tovar Municipality.
History
The village of La Colonia Tovar (The Tovar Colony) is located about 60 km from CaracasCaracas
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...
. The town was named after Martín Tovar y Ponte who donated the land over 100 years ago. The town 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 "golfiado", which is very similar to a Cinnamon roll
Cinnamon roll
A cinnamon roll is a sweet pastry served commonly in Northern Europe and North America. It consists of a rolled sheet of yeast dough onto which a cinnamon and sugar mixture is sprinkled over a thin coat of butter...
. Founded in 1843 by German settlers, the city remained isolated from the rest of the country for decades, a factor that 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 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...
("Colonial German"), is nearly extinct.
Today, 6,000 people live in the main village, up from 1,300 in 1963.
Due to the cool climate and pleasant surrounding countryside, it is 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 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
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" and the odd "D" plate on some cars, but will be unlikely to find anyone who understands German fluently.
Geography
Colonia Tovar, at about 2,000 meters above sea level, has an annual average temperature of 16 degrees CelsiusCelsius
Celsius is a scale and unit of measurement for temperature. It is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...
(61 degrees Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by, and named after, the German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit . Within this scale, the freezing of water into ice is defined at 32 degrees, while the boiling point of water is defined to be 212 degrees...
), and at night it can drop to around 5 °C.
Economy
The cost of living is higher here than elsewhere in Venezuela. The town depends mostly on tourism and peachPeach
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 tourist demand from Caracas, and the extraction of tree fern
Cyatheales
The order Cyatheales is a taxonomic division of the fern subclass, Cyatheatae, which includes the tree ferns. No clear morphological features characterize all of the Cyatheales, but DNA sequence data indicates that the order is monophyletic. Some species in the Cyatheales have tree-like growth...
, 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.
Demographics
The Tovar Municipality, according to a 2007 population estimate by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, has a population of 17,429 (up from 14,798 in 2000). This amounts to 1% of the state's population. The municipality's population density is 77.46 PD/sqkm.Government
The mayor of the Tovar Municipality is Esteban Bocaranda, elected on October 31, 2004 with 33% of the vote. He replaced Alfredo Durr shortly after the elections. The municipality is divided into one parishParish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
; Capital Tovar.
See also
- La Colonia Tovar
- AraguaAragua (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...
- Municipalities of VenezuelaMunicipalities of VenezuelaMunicipalities of Venezuela are divisions of the states.-Amazonas:#Alto Orinoco #Atabapo #Atures #Autana #Manapiare #Maroa...
- German colonization of the AmericasGerman colonization of the AmericasThe German colonization of the Americas consisted of failed attempts to settle Venezuela , St. Thomas, the Crab Island and Tertholen in the 16th and 17th centuries.-Klein-Venedig:...