Mérida

Mérida

Mérida is one of the most important cities in the Venezuelan Andes. Captain Juan Rodríguez Suárez founded it in 1558, as part of Nueva Granada, but it later became part of the Captaincy General of Venezuela and played an important role in the War of Independence. This city is situated on a plateau in the Chama River valley, and it lies at an altitude of 1,600 meters, with the highest peak in the country, Pico Bolívar, at 4,981 meters, rising on the horizon. The old quarter of the city sits on the alluvial plain known as Tatuy. Mérida has four main rivers and a few smaller seasonal streams in less urbanized parts of the city. The main river is the Chama, followed by the Albarregas, which crosses the plain and splits it into two parts: the Banda Occidental and the Banda Oriental. The two rivers run from one end of the city to the other. At the lower end of the city is Lake La Rosa, one of around 200 lakes in the state of Mérida. The vegetation in the interior of the city is made up of medium to tall trees and ferns, mainly found near the Albarregas river basin. The outskirts of Mérida are not urbanized, and are dominated by submontane and seasonal rainforest vegetation. To the south, there are vast coniferous forests, where they were planted a few years ago, and to the north and east there are cloud forests. The local fauna includes large populations of small and medium-sized birds such as hummingbirds and parrots, which are particularly widespread in the southern part of the city.