Tabay

Tabay

Tabay is a small city in the state of Mérida located on an alluvial plateau in the Venezuelan Andes at 1708 meters above sea level, and on the banks of the Chama River. The city is the capital of the Santos Marquina municipality and, 12 km northeast of the city of Merida, is part of the metropolitan area of Merida. Tabay is one of the entrances to the Sierra Nevada National Park, from where the journey to the highest peaks of the national territory begins. The Trans-Andean Highway runs east-west through Tabay. The indigenous village of the Mucunutanes or Tabayes was discovered by the Spaniards in 1558. The Tabayes were a part of the Miguríes tribe, who were part of the Timotes group. In 1619 the city was officially founded as San Antonio de Padua de Tabay. Tabay was destroyed by the earthquake of 1812, which shook the country, but then rebuilt. It was the only place to report deaths among the towns around Mérida. The hero of Venezuela's independence and contemporary of the Liberator Simón Bolívar, Captain José de los Santos Marquina was born in Tabay and was its first mayor. Tabay is now the capital of the Santos Marquina municipality and has been strongly influenced by the large influx of Spanish immigrants, who arrived in the town during the 19th and 20th centuries.