Maturin

History

December 7, 1760, is the official date of the founding of Maturín (according to the Venezuelan Academy of History) by the Franciscan missionary Lucas de Zaragoza. However, the Jesuit priest Pablo Ojer found a document in the General Archive of the Indies which proves an earlier founding date for the city in 1722. This primitive town was called and its founder was the Spanish governor Juan de la Tornera y Sota. San Juan de la Tornera de Maturín was a city for Spaniards, but it did not survive very long because of the lack of population and few economic resources. Initially, (Lucas de Zaragoza gave this name to Maturín) was a Spanish mission created for the conversion of the nearby native and Warao people. The Spaniards decided to move to Maturín and in the 19th century it received the category of city and the name of . Maturín was named after an indigenous chief (cacique) who lived with his tribe next to the bank of Guarapiche River. He was murdered by a supposed Spanish captain named Arrioja during a battle between tribal members and Spaniards on the site of the town in 1718. Since then the area has been known as ('the place of Maturín'). Some historians have concluded that the name Maturín is instead of French origin. They base their theory on the legend of a supposed French missionary who explored the area at the end of the 17th century. The legend says that the missionary (whose surname might have been Mathurin) baptized a young indigenous boy and gave him the name Mathurin, the boy later becoming . There is also the possibility that the boy may have been named after a 4th-century French saint, Saint Mathurin. However, the legend of this supposed French missionary has not been proved yet. Other historians disagree with the theory, arguing that there is a plant…

Geography

Maturin is located at 67 meters of altitude and 520 kilometres from the country's capital, Caracas. It is right next to the Guarapiche River and is a crossroad for roads towards the center, the Caribbean coast and the Orinoco River Maturín features a tropical savannah climate (Köppen climate classification: Aw).

Most-observed species

• Carib Grackle

  Quiscalus lugubris Swainson, 1838 · Aves
  68
• Great Kiskadee

  Pitangus sulphuratus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  66
• Blue-gray Tanager

  Thraupis episcopus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  64
• Orange-winged Parrot

  Amazona amazonica (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  63
• Tropical Kingbird

  Tyrannus melancholicus Vieillot, 1819 · Aves
  61
• Ruddy Ground-Dove

  Columbina talpacoti (Temminck, 1810) · Aves
  60
• Southern Caracara

  Caracara plancus (J.F.Miller, 1777) · Aves
  58
• Palm Tanager

  Thraupis palmarum (Wied-Neuwied, 1821) · Aves
  58

Most recent

• M 4.5 — 2026-02-25
  35 km ESE of Caripito, Venezuela
• M 4.1 — 2025-10-15
  37 km SW of Güiria, Venezuela
• M 4.9 — 2023-05-11
  24 km ENE of San Antonio, Venezuela
• M 4.6 — 2023-04-27
  12 km ENE of Caripito, Venezuela
• M 4.3 — 2022-04-20
  near the coast of Venezuela
• M 4.3 — 2022-01-19
  24 km S of Carúpano, Venezuela