Founding
capital of Falcón State, Venezuela
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Coro is the capital of Falcón State and the second oldest city in Venezuela (after Cumaná). It was founded on July 26, 1527, by Juan de Ampíes as Santa Ana de Coro. It was historically known as Neu-Augsburg (from 1528 to 1546) by the German Welsers, and Coro by the Spanish colonizers and Venezuelans, the city and buildings were built during the Spanish Empire. It is established at the south of the Paraguaná Peninsula in a coastal plain, flanked by the Médanos de Coro National Park to the north and the Sierra de Coro to the south, at a few kilometers from its port (La Vela de Coro) in the Caribbean Sea at a point equidistant between the Ensenada de La Vela and Golfete de Coro.
It has a wide cultural tradition that comes from being the urban settlement founded by the Spanish conquerors who colonized the interior of the continent. As Neu-Augsburg, it was the first German colony in the Americas under the Welser family of Augsburg (from 1528 to 1546). It was then the first capital of the Spanish Captaincy General of Venezuela (1546–1578) and head of the first bishop founded in South America in 1531. The precursor movement of the independence and of vindication of the dominated classes in Venezuela originated in this region; it is also considered to be the cradle of the Venezuelan federalist movement in the republican era.
Thanks to the city's history, culture and its well-preserved Colonial architecture, "Coro and its port La Vela" was designated in 1993 as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Since 2005 it is on the UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger.
At its founding the town was called Santa Ana de Coro (there is now an unsuccessful campaign to reinstate the colonial name of the city) in the Spanish style that named new cities in America according to the Catholic calendar, accompanied by a name of Indian origin. According to the tradition the word coro derives from the Caquetio word curiana, meaning "place of winds". However, according to the authoritative DRAE Spanish dictionary, the word coro in its second meaning means "wind of the northwest", and comes from the Latin caurus.
The city was founded on July 26, 1527, by Juan Martín de Ampués, with the name of Santa Ana de Coro. Ampíes covenanted to respect the authority of the Native chief Manaure highest authority of the natives of the region, the Caquetio people, This covenant is broken abruptly in 1529 with the landing at the city's first Governor and Captain General Ambrosius Ehinger representing the Welser, an Augsburg banking and trading family. The family received the Province of Venezuela (as Klein-Venedig) from the emperor Charles V for exploration, founding cities and exploitation of the resources of this vast territory that stretched from Cabo de la Vela (Guajira Peninsula) to Maracapana (near the city of Barcelona, Anzoátegui). From Coro emerged multiple expeditions to the Venezuelan and Colombian Llanos, the Andes and the Orinoco River in search of El Dorado, which allowed the conquerors to explore these vast territories. The government of the Welsers ends in 1545 for breach of contract and conflict of interests between them and the Spanish conquistadors who explored the territory from other focal points of the Spanish Empire in America. The city is in its early days a "beachhead" or outpost of the Spanish during the conquest and colonization in the western and central Venezuela. From them left the expeditions of exploration and founding of new towns.
Santa Ana de Coro lost the political capital of the Venezuela Province (also known as the Coro Province in official documents of the time) in 1578 to Caracas, motivated by repeated invasions of pirates (the Preston–Somers expedition was one) and especially to the harshness of its climate. Finally it was no longer the seat of the bishopric in 1636.
During the seventeenth century Coro was hit by a hurricane and invasions of pirates, to the point where it appeared in the charts of English and French of the time with the title of "destroyed." However, these calamities left intact the countryside, with its productive power, which allowed it to recover slowly. Thus, in the late 18th and early 19th century reaches its colonial peak. Precisely from this period are the best preserved civilian buildings in the city.
In 1795 a slave uprising occurs, and generally dominated social classes in the Sierra de Coro, led by the free zambo José Leonardo Chirino, which was aimed at the elimination of slavery and the establishment of the republican regime known for the time as "the French law". The movement, which would be the forerunner in the independence process would end in defeat, the capture and killing of rebel leader.
In 1806 an expedition landed in the port of La Vela de Coro led by Francisco de Miranda. It was intended to be liberating, but was not greeted with enthusiasm by the locals. The expedition is still important as the precursor of the Spanish American wars of independence and in particular for bringing the tricolor, eventually adopted as the flag of Gran Colombia. It is now the basis for the official flag of three American republics, Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. The port of La Vela de Coro was where it was raised for the first time in Venezuela.
During the beginning of the Venezuelan War of Independence, Coro, Maracaibo and Guiana did not comply with the provisions of the Junta Suprema de Caracas on April 19, 1810, remaining loyal to Spanish rule. Subsequently, formed a bulwark of the Spanish Empire to land on its coasts the troops that end up destroying the First Republic of Venezuela. In 1821, finally the Coro Province incorporates to the process of independence, with the capture of the city by the troops led by the heroine Josefa Camejo and a group of patriots who came a long time plotting. By the time the General Rafael Urdaneta invades from Maracaibo commanding the Grancolombian army, and the city had been released a few days earlier for the Coro army commanded by Camejo.
The War of Independence and later the civil wars of the 19th century (including the Federal War that began in Coro) leaving the city deserted and destroyed its field, which plunged her into a period of decline that would recover the half- well into the 20th century with the construction of oil refineries in the Paraguaná Peninsula and the changes in Venezuela following the passage of a rural to an urban and oil country.
Since the early 50s Coro was declared a National Heritage.
Coro is located at north of the Coro region, transition between the Venezuelan Coastal Range and the Cordillera de Mérida. Located on a coastal plain of xerophyte vegetation (19 msn) covering the entire western Falcón state and reaches its narrowest point just in the city, closing a few miles east of Coro by foothills of the Sierra de Falcón. To the north lies the Médanos Isthmus, named for it found in a formation of dunes or sand fields that have been formed by persistent trade winds and ocean currents. The isthmus connects the Paraguaná Peninsula with the mainland. at south of the city are the foothills of the Sierra de Falcón.
Due to its extremely high potential evapotranspiration, Coro has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSh) despite receiving an average of approximately 452 millimetres or 18 inches of rainfall per year over 50.1 precipitation days. Humidity remains at a similar level year-round. The highest rainfall occurs between October and December, while March is the driest month. The average temperature is 28.9 °C (84.0 °F), with minimum temperatures of 23 °C (73 °F) and maximum 36 °C (96.8 °F). The city is sunny, averaging over 3100 hours of sunshine a year, with January being the sunniest month. It is characterized by strong winds that can register speeds of 35 kilometres per hour (22 mph; 19 kn).
On 29 April 2015, Coro recorded a temperature of 43.6 °C (110.5 °F), which is the highest temperature to have ever been recorded in Venezuela. Coro has never recorded a temperature below 18.9 °C (66.0 °F).
Because of its status as capital of the state, Coro is the urban center around which the political life of Falcón revolves. It serves as the political and administrative capital, where the offices of the state government, governor, Regional Council Legislature, courts, and seat of the Universidad Nacional Experimental Francisco de Miranda are located.
The municipal government is currently led by the PSUV, which was founded by Hugo Chávez. This reflects Venezuela's broader politics, most governors and mayors also initially belonged to Chávez's Movimiento V República. However, in the 2007 referendum, Chávez's party suffered its first defeat in eight years of successive electoral victories. In Coro, 57.08% of voters rejected the reform. However, in the subsequent state elections of 2008, the ruling party (PSUV) won the position for governor of Falcón state, but this candidate received less votes than the opposition party within Coro.
In the September 2010 elections, Coro, along with nearby municipalities, formed Circuit 3 of the state. The ruling socialist party, PSUV, nominated retired general Melvin Lopez Hidalgo, while the democratic MUD ran Gregorio Graterol, former candidate for governor of the state. With more than 52% of the vote, the opposition candidate Gregorio Graterol won the seat of the circuit assembly, representing the fourth consecutive defeat of Chavismo in the city (after the 2007 referendum, the 2008 regional elections, and the referendum).
The community television channel, Coro TV, covers local politics.
The city has inherited a monumental architecture of the colonial and republican times features typical of the Andalusian architecture (southern Spain), with materials and techniques used by Native Americans based in the mud, like adobe and wattle, which gives it a unique personality. Equally characteristic has a certain pattern that combines traditional Spanish checkerboard layout with an irregular shape typical of medieval German cities, product of the period in which the city was the seat of the domain of Welser. In the central town, some streets end abruptly, breaking the regularity of the Spanish checkerboard. Ambrosius Alfinger (German of the house of the Welsers and first Governor of the Province of Venezuela) restructures the layout of the streets based on the original layout of the founding of the city.
With its earthen constructions unique in the Caribbean, Coro is the surviving example of the rich fusion of indigenous traditions with the Spanish Mudéjar architectural techniques and irregular shape of German Welser architecture. It is one of the first colonial cities, was founded in 1527, and its colonial architecture prevails until today. Over 600 buildings have been appointed in Coro as heritage.
The historic centre remains characteristics typical of a city of the 18th and 19th centuries, with cobbled stone streets and colonial buildings. This is an important colonial city resort and the largest complex of colonial temples in Venezuela. It contains a variety of museums with a broad representation of Catholic iconography or national historical value, so it is called "la ciudad museo". For these reasons it is declared, along with its nearby port of La Vela de Coro, a World Heritage Site on December 9, 1993, by Unesco in meeting held in the Colombian city of Cartagena de Indias.
Since 2005 Coro has been officially listed as an "endangered" World Heritage Site (see List of World Heritage in Danger). Heavy rains (notably in 2004–2005, 2010 and 2022), acting on the site’s vulnerable earthen architecture (adobe and bahareque) and compounded by inadequate long-term maintenance, drainage problems and incomplete conservation efforts, have caused significant damage and contributed to the site’s inclusion on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger since 2005. Coro's traditional buildings were built with techniques based on the use of earth (adobe, and earth reinforced with a plant structure in a technique called "bahareque"). Many of these buildings are vulnerable to heavy rains, as in its natural state earth is a material of low resistance to moisture.
As well as the damage from rains between November 2004 and February 2005, the built environment had, according to UNESCO, been adversely affected by the construction of inappropriate walls and fences. There has also been concern about the construction of a new monument, beach walkways and a gateway to the city in the port of La Vela de Coro: these could have a considerable impact on the value of the site.
In 2018 it was noted that while information provided by the "State Party" (i.e. Venezuela) demonstrated satisfactory advances in the implementation of many corrective measures, further information and actions were needed to ensure that the key issues previously identified as affecting the property have been adequately addressed.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Coro, Venezuela”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.