Colonia Tovar

The Colonia Tovar (Tovar Colony) is a city located in the Tovar Municipality of the Aragua State, Venezuela about 60 km from its nearest city, Caracas. The town was named after Martín Tovar y Ponte who donated the land over 100 years ago. The city is mainly known for its Germanic characteristics, culture, and a dessert called "golfiado", which is very similar to a cinnamon bun. Being 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 ("colony German"), is nearly extinct. Today, 6,000 people live in the village, up from 1,300 in 1963. 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 much cooler 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 other tourist facilities, however many are only open at 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 Bavarian dress hawking "torte selva negra" and the odd "D" plate on some cars but will be unlikely to find anyone who understands fluent German. Cost of living expenses here are higher than elsewhere in Venezuela. The town depends mostly on local 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. (Although throughout the week the place can be virtually deserted) Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1600x1200, 729 KB) Summary Author: Pascual De Ruvo. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1600x1200, 729 KB) Summary Author: Pascual De Ruvo. ... Tovar is a municipality (municipio) in Aragua State, Venezuela. ... Estado Aragua is located in the north-central region of Venezuela. ... A cinnamon roll (also cinnamon bun) is a type of pastry found commonly in North America. ... 1843 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Alemán Coloniero, spoken in Colonia Tovar, is a dialect that belongs to the Low Alemannic branch of German. ... Celsius relates to the Celsius or centrigrade temperature scale. ... Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after the German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736), who proposed it in 1724. ... Nickname: La Sultana del Avila (English:The Avilas Sultan) La Sucursal del Cielo (English:Branch of Heaven) Motto: Ave María Santísima, sin pecado concebida, en el primer instante de su ser natural. ... The Free State of Bavaria  (German: Freistaat Bayern), with an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ... Black Forest gateau Black Forest gateau (also commonly called Black Forest cake in Canada, the USA and Australia) is the English name for the southern German dessert Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (literally Black Forest cherry cake). It originated in the Black Forest region of southern Germany, but it is a popular... This is a list of vehicle country identification codes: Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Note * Non-official Note1  There are other, unofficial codes in common... Binomial name Prunus persica (L.) Batsch Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. ... Tree Fern refers to any fern that grows with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level. ...

See also

• German colonization of the Americas

The German colonization of the Americas consisted of a failed attempt to settle Venezuela in the 16th century. ...

External links

• La Colonia Tovar - Official Website
• Colonia Tovar - Main Website

Coordinates: 10°25′N 67°17′W Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...