Tabay, Venezuela
Tabay is a small town in the state of Mérida, Venezuela, located on an alluvial plateau in the Venezuelan Andes at above sea level, on the banks of the Chama River. The town is the capital of Santos Marquina Municipality and, situated northeast of the city of Mérida, it forms part of the metropolitan area of Mérida. Tabay is the starting point for most hiking excursions in the Sierra Nevada de Mérida. The Trans-Andean Highway crosses Tabay from east to west.
History
The indigenous settlement of the or was reached by the Spanish in 1558. The Tabayes were a subgroup of the Miguríes tribe, who belonged to the Timoto-Cuica group. In 1619 the town was officially founded as , in association with the Catholic doctrine of that saint.
Tabay was rebuilt after the 1812 Caracas earthquake, which shook the country. It was the only place near Mérida that reported deaths from the disaster.
Captain José de los Santos Marquina, a hero of the Venezuelan War of Independence and contemporary of Simón Bolívar, was born in Tabay and was its first mayor. Tabay is now the capital of Santos Marquina Municipality and was heavily influenced by an influx of Spanish immigrants who arrived during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Etymology
The name Tabay comes from the indigenous language of the ancient or who inhabited the area before the arrival of the Spanish. The word Tabay is also said to mean "house of the spirits" in the indigenous language of the Tabayes.
Church of Tabay
In 1698 Tabay was established as a parish; a church already existed in the town under Fray Nicolás Vásquez de Escamilla. During the republican period it became a civil parish of the Mérida . The church of Tabay, dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of the town, was destroyed by an earthquake in 1894 and rebuilt in 1907.
Sierra Nevada
Tabay is one of the entry points to the Sierra Nevada National Park, from which trekking routes start to the highest peaks of Venezuela, including Pico Humboldt and Pico Bolívar. A full traverse takes approximately six days of mountaineering.
The traverse begins at the park, part of the Sierra Nevada National Park, where hikers must register with park rangers and hire a guide. The first stretch leads to the Coromoto Lagoon at . Pico Humboldt and the nearby Green Lagoon are at , with sub-zero temperatures. The route continues to the La Corona glacier and the peaks of Bonpland, Bolívar and La Concha.
Climate
See also
- Los Aleros
- Sierra Nevada National Park (Venezuela)