Gaiman is a town in the

Chubut Province Chubut ( es, Provincia del Chubut, ; cy, Talaith Chubut) is a province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with Río Negro Province), the 46th parallel south (bordering Santa Cruz Province), the Andes rang ...

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. It has a population of 4,730 as per the . It is located in the River Chubut's lower valley (called in

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

), about west of

Trelew Trelew (, from cy, tref "town" and the name of the founder, Lewis Jones) is a city in the eastern part of the Chubut Province of Argentina. Located in Patagonia, the city is the largest and most populous in the low valley of the Chubut River, wi ...

. Gaiman is a cultural and demographic centre of the main region of the

Welsh settlement in Argentina Y Wladfa (, "The Colony"), also occasionally Y Wladychfa Gymreig (, "The Welsh Settlement"), refers to the establishment of settlements by Welsh immigrants in Patagonia, beginning in 1865, mainly along the coast of the lower Chubut Valley. I ...

, known in Welsh as . The town was founded in 1874 by David D. Roberts and acquired municipal rights in 1885. The Central Chubut Railway arrived in 1908 connecting Gaiman to

. The Gaiman Train Tunnel was built in 1914 when the railway extended to

Las Plumas Las Plumas (Welsh: ''Dôl y Plu'') is a village in Chubut Province, Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers a ...

( cy, Dôl y Plu, links=no). Many people in the region have maintained the use of Welsh alongside Spanish. The annual youth

Eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, ac ...

, a Welsh cultural festival, is held every September. The (Regional Historical Museum) in the former station house commemorates the history of the Welsh community in the region. There are a number of Welsh

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

chapels, of which the largest is . The town's name originates in an indigenous Tehuelche place-name meaning "rocky point." Just to the south of Gaiman is the Bryn Gwyn Paleontological Park.

Gallery

File:Bgaiman9.JPG, First House (''Y ty Cyntaf'') File:GaimanWelshSchool.JPG, Welsh school File:GaimanTunel.JPG, Old train tunnel entrance File:GaimanRC.JPG, Roman church

External links

Project-Hiraeth – Documents the stories of the Welsh colony in Patagonia, Argentina through film, text and illustration.
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Municipality of Gaiman Official website
Populated places in Chubut Province Populated places established in 1874 Welsh settlement in Patagonia 1874 establishments in Argentina {{Chubut-geo-stub