La Guaira
| La Guaira | ||||
 La Guaira as seen from the Avila massif |
||||
| location | ||||
|
||||
| 10 ° 36 ′ N , 66 ° 56 ′ W | ||||
| Data | ||||
| Country: |
 Venezuela
|
|||
| State: | La Guaira | |||
| Founding: | 1555 | |||
| Residents: | 25,259 | |||
La Guaira is a city in Venezuela . It is traditionally known as the “Gate of Venezuela”, as it is home to one of the most important ports in the country and is only 20 kilometers by road north of the capital Caracas . The city has 25,259 inhabitants and is the capital of the state of La Guaira .
geography
The city is located in the north of Venezuela on the Caribbean Sea , in an east-west direction in the middle of the country, where the Cordillera extends to the sea. The city lies between zero and 218 m altitude on a thin strip between the sea and the mountain range El Ávila and in the folds of the latter. La Guaira has grown together with the neighboring town of Maiquetía .
The surrounding geographical barrier is also the physical limit for urban growth and means that La Guiara has only a small population despite its great economic, political and cultural importance.
The city and its port are 20 km from Caracas . Venezuela's largest airport, the Aeropuerto Internacional de Maiquetía “Simón Bolívar” , which belongs to Caracas but is located in Maiquetía, is less than 5 km from La Guaira.
Although the city is on the Caribbean Sea, it has no beaches because the sea is too wild there. However, there are significant fishing bases . The climate is tropical with an average annual temperature of 28 ° C with less than 200 mm of precipitation per year. However, the city suffered from torrential rain in December 1999, with enormous masses of mud being washed down from the mountain range between La Guaira and Caracas, which buried many houses and caused others built on the slopes to slide with them. Parts of the city were destroyed. The exact number of deaths remained uncertain; but one assumes up to 7000. Traces of the destruction can still be seen in some parts of the city today.
history
The Arawak were the first to leave their mark on what is now La Guaira. 500 years before the arrival of Christopher Columbus ' in the Caribbean, they were at least partially by the Caribs displaced.
In the area of today's state of La Guaira , the Tarma empire developed, which existed between Puerto Maya and the valleys of the Tuy . The Tarma spoke carib .
A Guaiqueri - mestizo from the area of present-day state of Nueva Esparta , Francisco Fajardo, founded in 1555 "La Villa del Rosario". The attempt to peacefully win over the local Indians failed in 1557, in particular because of the attacks by the Spaniards accompanying him. The Indians under the leadership of Chief Guaicamacuto decided at a meeting in the area of today's Macuto , Fajardo and his own to drive out. Today this gathering is often interpreted as an archetype of democratic decision-making.
La Guaira was officially founded in 1589 by Diego de Osorio . The original Indian settlement of Huaira was named "San Pedro de La Guaira". From 1730 operated by La Guaira from the Spanish Compañía Guipuzcoana that the trade - monopoly held for the former Spanish province of Caracas. During this time, La Guaira consolidated its position as the most important port in Venezuela. The old town, despite the damage caused by earthquakes (like that of 1810) and floods (like that of 1999), preserves the legacy of that time.
The Venezuelan freedom fighters José María España and Manuel Gual were born in the city, as were the presidents Carlos Soublette and José María Vargas . The freedom hero Manuel Piar , who was born in Curacao, spent a large part of his life in La Guaira.
Sports
The popular baseball team of the Tiburones de La Guaira (baseball is the national sport in Venezuela) is based in La Guiara , as is the basketball team of the Delfines de La Guaira , now known as the Tiburones de Vargas . Venezuelan baseball players Cristóbal Colón (including Texas Rangers ), Óscar Henríquez (including Houston Astros ), Carlos Martínez (including Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians ), Kelvim Escobar (including Toronto Blue Jays ) and Luis Rivas (including Minnesota Twins ) come from here .
sons and daughters of the town
- Emilio Boggio (1857–1920), painter
- Justus Theodor Valentiner (1869–1952), German administrative officer and university curator
- Renata Cedeño Laya (* 20th century), composer
- Canelita Medina (1939), singer
- Carlos Martínez (1965-2006), baseball player
- Juan Guaidó (* 1983), industrial engineer and politician
- Yangel Herrera (* 1998), football player
Web links
- Website of the port of La Guaira (Spanish)
- Website of the Tiburones de La Guaira (Spanish)