La Asuncion

History

In 1562, the Spanish villagers of Espíritu Santo migrated to this hamlet to escape the marauding pirates and the tyrant Lope de Aguirre. In 1566 French pirates headed by Jean Bontemps completely razed the village which was further devastated by the English privateer John Hawkins. However, the town was refounded, given a coat of arms, and called a city. La Asunción thus was founded in 1565, by Captain Pedro González Cervantes de Albornoz. Construction of the Santa Rosa de la Eminencia castle on a hill overlooking the city began on the orders of the governor, Juan Muñoz de Gadea, after the French buccaneer Marquis de Maintenon attacked the city in early 1676. The work was started on 24 March 1677 La Asunción was involved in the Venezuelan War of Independence, and noted General Juan Bautista Arismendi married his wife Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi on December 4, 1814, in the city at the age of 39. The castle was abandoned in 1935, but twenty years later achieved the status of a War Museum due to a local initiative. It was declared a National Monument in 1965 by president Raúl Leoni.

Geography

Surrounded by green hills, La Asunción is situated in the Santa Lucia Valley in the center of eastern Margarita Island. Porlamar is to the south. At the time of its founding this was a secluded location which provided some protection from coastal pirates. The fertile Santa Lucia Valley is nurtured by the Cerro El Copey which rises in the mountains here. A bridge across the Río Asunción was built in 1609, which existed until 1970 and provided entry to the town from the north.

Most-observed species

• Tropical Mockingbird

  Mimus gilvus (Vieillot, 1808) · Aves
  1,442
• Magnificent Frigatebird

  Fregata magnificens Mathews, 1914 · Aves
  1,089
• Black Vulture

  Coragyps atratus (Bechstein, 1793) · Aves
  953
• Carib Grackle

  Quiscalus lugubris Swainson, 1838 · Aves
  920
• Brown Pelican

  Pelecanus occidentalis Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  818
• Scaled Dove

  Columbina squammata (R.Lesson, 1831) · Aves
  748
• Black-faced Grassquit

  Melanospiza bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  745
• Common Ground-Dove

  Columbina passerina (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  709

Most recent

• M 4.4 — 2024-07-25
  33 km WNW of Araya, Venezuela
• M 4.9 — 2023-05-11
  24 km ENE of San Antonio, Venezuela
• M 4.3 — 2022-01-19
  24 km S of Carúpano, Venezuela
• M 4.5 — 2020-10-17
  15 km SSE of Porlamar, Venezuela
• M 4.4 — 2020-10-13
  18 km S of Porlamar, Venezuela
• M 5.4 — 2019-09-09
  26 km WNW of Cumaná, Venezuela