Place:Mérida, Mérida, Venezuela

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The State of Mérida commonly known simply as Mérida^[1][2] is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Mérida, in the Libertador Municipality.

Located in the Western Andean Region, Mérida State covers a total surface area of , making it the fifteenth-largest in Venezuela. In 2011, had a census population of 828,592, the fourteenth most populous.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Pre-Colonial

According to recent studies in archaeology, history and anthropology, The Andean region seems to have been inhabited since very remote times (perhaps several thousand years) by unknown groups that have left very few traces.

Then, around our era, another ethnic group of great cultural importance arrives in the region, perhaps of Chibcha origin, since they share with these their mythology, funeral and settlement patterns, housing construction, agricultural techniques, etc. When the Spanish arrive in the Andean Cordillera it will be with this second group you will come in contact with. It is assumed that the majority of today's farmers are descendants of this Chibcha trunk group.

Another later and significant influence for the Andean pre-Hispanic culture are the Arawak groups, belonging to the most important ethnic groups of South America and the Caribbean, which migrated to the Venezuelan Andes during the 9th century AD. Finally, shortly before the arrival of the Spanish, we have a late penetration of Caribbean groups into the Andean region.

From the data of the chroniclers and the archaeological testimonies, today we know that the indigenous agricultural techniques like the irrigation systems (called acequias by the Spaniards) and the cultivation in terraces or andenes (used in all the South American Andes to take advantage of the slopes of the mountains) show for the time of the contact the existence of an economic infrastructure that supposes the presence of a numerous native population in the Andean Mountain range, as well as the existence of a hierarchical political organization and a network of communications in all the zone.

The Spaniards will use this indigenous population base for the development of the society they intended to establish in America. An important area of encomiendas and doctrinal towns. Thanks to this, the current toponymy of the Venezuelan Andes has preserved the names of the many indigenous groups that inhabited this region: Timoto-Cuica, Chama, Mocotíes, Mucuchíes, Tabayes, Mucutuy, Aricagua, etc.

Spanish colonization

In 1558 Juan Rodríguez Suárez founded the city of Mérida, in the name of the Corregimiento de Tunja, in honor of his native city of Mérida in Spain. In December 1607 Merida was separated from the Corregimiento de Tunja and united with the government of La Grita forming the corregimiento de Merida y La Grita. On November 3, 1622 it became the governorship of Merida with Juan Pacheco Maldonado as governor.

In 1676 Maracaibo (separated from the province of Venezuela) and Mérida-La Grita are united in a governorship called Province of Mérida del Espíritu Santo de Maracaibo (capital in Mérida) under the Audiencia of Bogota and then known as "province of Maracaibo" since 1678 that city becomes the capital of the governorship.

By 1677 the Pirate Michel de Grandmont sacked Trujillo, this attack led Governor Jorge de Madureira to change the capital of the province to the city of Maracaibo in 1678, to organize a more effective defense of the territory.

The territory of the province of Merida depended on the Viceroyalty of New Granada until 1777, when the Captaincy General of Venezuela was created.

19th century

In 1811 the province of Merida decided to rebel against Spain and join the process of Venezuelan Independence, along with seven other provinces to form the First Republic of Venezuela. The region would be represented by a star on the Venezuelan flag ever since.

In 1812 an earthquake devastates the city of Merida, and soon after the province is reconquered by the royalists.

The following year during the Admirable Campaign, Simón Bolívar liberates Mérida from the Realists, entering through La Grita (then the province of Mérida) in May 1813. On his journey he passes through Bailadores, Merida and Timotes liberating the province of Merida. With the victory of the Admirable Campaign, Merida is incorporated to the Second Republic of Venezuela.

In 1814 With the loss of the Second Republic, Merida is again temporarily incorporated into the Captaincy General of Venezuela. Three years later, the popular independence movement known as La Patriecita, will be suffocated by the Spanish royalists in 1818.

By 1820 the crossing of the Andes by Bolivar's army, frees Merida again. With the victory of Boyacá on August 7, only the provinces of Maracaibo and Coro remained realistic and Merida was incorporated into the Third Republic of Venezuela.

In 1821 Merida was incorporated into Gran Colombia as part of the Department of Zulia, but in 1830 when Venezuela separated from Gran Colombia, the Department of Zulia was renamed the Province of Maracaibo. The provinces of Merida and Coro were immediately separated, leaving the province composed only of the sections Zulia and Trujillo.

In 1835 the division of the province was established in: Canton Mérida, Canton Mucuchíes, Canton Ejido, Canton Bailadores, Canton La Grita, Canton San Cristóbal and Canton San Antonio del Táchira and in 1842 the governor of the province Gabriel Picón inaugurates the first monument to Bolívar in the world known as La Columna in Milla Park.

Around 1856 the cantons of La Grita, San Crsitóbal and San Antonio del Táchira separate to form the Province of Táchira.

On November 23, 1863, the State of Merida was created with the territory of Merida, Ejido, Bailadores, Mucuchies and Timotes. In 1868 it was incorporated to the State of Zulia, together with Táchira, but it was separated in 1869.

In 1874 it was renamed Guzmán State. In 1881, it became part of the Great State of the Andes together with Táchira and Trujillo. This state was dissolved in 1899 and was limited to the territory it had as an independent state.

20th century

Since 1909 it has been a state of Merida. At the beginning of the century in 1912, after the closure of the Universidad Central de Venezuela by the government of Juan Vicente Gómez, the city of Mérida was left as the only one in the country with access to higher education, a situation that would last until 1922 when the UCV was reopened.

Research Tips