La Guardia is a fishing and tourist community on the northwest coast of Isla Margarita, Venezuela.

Location

La Guardia lies at the eastern end of a bar, or strip of land, that stretches more than from the main island of Margarita to Punta Tigre on the

Macanao Peninsula The Macanao Peninsula is a geographic peninsula landform, that forms the western end of the Isla Margarita in the Caribbean Sea, in northern Venezuela. It is also a Venezuelan municipality, the Municipality of Macanao Peninsula (''Municipio Pen� ...

, running between the

Laguna de la Restinga Laguna de la Restinga is a national park on the Isla Margarita, Nueva Esparta state, Venezuela. The main part of the park is a large salt lagoon, rich in fish and birdlife. It is on the Ramsar list of wetlands of international importance, and is ...

and the Caribbean Sea. The bar is made of rocks and pebbles of different sizes and huge numbers of sea shells. The bar also forms the northern shore of one of the largest bays in the world.

History

The original name was ''Caranta-maura'', which means "great bay" in the guaiquerí language. Later it was called Bufadero. The first mention of this name is in a document dated 27 September 1754, when it is mentioned as a place on the coast. José de Matos y Rabel was appointed Governor of Margarita on 5 July 1764 and took office on 3 January 1765. On 21 July 1765 he mentioned in a letter to the King of Spain that he had installed two guards at the location to protect the island from smuggling, and this is the origin of the current name. The name Bufadero still appears in a map of Isla Margarita dated 15 June 1777, and there are records of sales of cattle at Bufaderos in 1794 and in 1802. The name "La Guardia" is relatively recent. It is mentioned in a document of 24 February 1872 that Diego Romero had built three houses near the house of La Guardia in Bufadero, and this may be the origin of today's community. In 1899 the place was officially called Caserío (hamlet) La Guardia. In 1915 it was renamed Zabala, but the official name is not widely used.

Activities

Many of the people are engaged in fishing. Seafood includes mussels, oysters, octopus, mackerel and corocoro (gruntfish). The Virgin de María Auxiliadora is the patron saint of the town, and is celebrated on 24 May each year with processions, masses and events on the square in front of the church dedicated to the saint. On 16 July each year the fishermen observe the day of the Virgen del Carmen, carrying her image in the long procession along the length of the bay.

Gallery

File:Turismo en la Guardia 2.jpg, Car on the beach File:Turismo en la Guardia 1.jpg, Shell fragment of ''

Chicoreus brevifrons ''Chicoreus brevifrons'', common name the West Indian murex, is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails.Houart, R. (2011). Chicoreus brevifrons (Lamarck, 1822). Accessed through: ...

'' on a pebble beach File:Pelicano de Margarita en La Guardia.jpg,

Pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...

on a fishing boat File:La Guardia, Carretera a Juan Griego 2.jpg, Road north from La Guardia to Juan Griego

References

Citations Sources * * * * * * {{Isla Margarita Margarita Island Populated places in Nueva Esparta Populated places established in 1765 Populated coastal places in Venezuela