Village in Cordoba, Argentina
Villa General Belgrano
is a mountain village in the
valley of Calamuchita
in the
Province of Cordoba
in central
Argentina
. As of 2010
[update]
it had 8,257 inhabitants.
[2]
The settlement is named after
Manuel Belgrano
, the Argentine independence hero and designer of the Argentine flag.
History
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]
Villa General Belgrano was founded in 1930, by two German speculators attracted by its agricultural potential. The Alpine quality of the village attracted immigrants from
Germany
,
Switzerland
,
Italy
and
Austria
.
In 1940, after the
Battle of the River Plate
, German seaman scuttled and sunk their battleship, the
Admiral Graf Spee
off the coast of the
Montevideo
harbour, and 130 of its surviving sailors settled in the village along with the original settlers and landscaped the mountain ranges of Cordoba with red-roofed, wood-frame homes,
microbreweries
and pastry and chocolate shops which gave it that unique style that distinguishes it today. A well-known German resident was
Kurt Tank
, who became a leading member of the Argentine Aeronautic Institute.
The village, characterized by its typically Bavarian style architecture, survives on a steady flow of tourists with an appetite for German delicacies like
apple strudel
,
leberwurst
and
spatzle
and beer even if German cuisine recipes are not strictly respected by local restaurants.
Oktoberfest
here is hailed as the third-most important Oktoberfest site after
Munich
and
Blumenau
in Brazil. The village offers an above-average (considering surrounding villages) quality of accommodations to the visitors in hotels and cabins, including a local
Howard Johnson's
.
Newsstands sold the
German language
weekly,
Argentinisches Tageblatt
among other German newspapers, and the church offers Sunday services in German and Spanish. Like many isolated immigrant communities, Villa General Belgrano has respected traditions that fell out of favor in Germany long ago, however even though the mother tongue can still be heard, it is being lost in time.
Flora and fauna
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The
flora
in this area has many arboreal autochthonous species as the chanar, espinillio, molle, moradillo, shade of bull and piquillin amongst other. As for the species implemented by the man in the zone important plantations of
coniferous
, eucalyptuses, paradise, acacias, are found.
As for the
fauna
, gray foxes, partridges,
vizcachas
,
cuises
, shy iguanas,
weasels
, etc. are abundant.
The
commune
is in the region named Bosque Serrano, located between 500 and 1400 metres above sea level.
Nearby towns
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The nearby town of
Santa Rosa de Calamuchita
, together with Villa General Belgrano are the principal tourist localities of the
Valley
. Nearby there also are the small settlements of Los Reartes, Villa Ciudad Parque Los Reartes, Solar de los Molinos, Villa Berna, Villa Alpina, Capilla Vieja, Atos Pampa, and
La Cumbrecita
which are singular tourist attractions.
Education
[
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]
The area once had a German school, Colegio Aleman "Steck".
[3]
Gallery
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]
-
Typical wooden signage
-
Colonia General Belgrano is the
Oktoberfest
Capital of Argentina, the largest celebration of its kind.
-
Town-Hall building, of the Municipality of Villa General Belgrano
-
Street in Villa General Belgrano
-
Park in Villa General Belgrano
See also
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References
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External links
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