Valle de La Pascua - History

History

Valle de la Pascua was founded in the 18th Century as part of the colonization and expansion of the Spanish presence on to the Alto Llano de Caracas, the name given to the central plains of the then Province of Venezuela, whose capital was Caracas.

In 1726, with the authorization of the government in Caracas, Capitán Francisco Carlos de Herrera, the regional administrator, granted the town of La Aguada de Valle de la Pascua together with the large cattle ranch called Santa Juana de la Cruz, to José Zamora. However the origins of Spanish settlement started with cattle ranches founded by Francisco Zamora Granados and his brother-in-law, Gabriel Sánchez Sajonero, who, the year previously, had arrived from Altagracia de Orituco and settled in the valley with their families, equipment and cattle.

The Law of Territorial Division of Gran Colombia, dated 25 June 1824, divided the Province of Caracas, of the Department of Venezuela, into twelve cantons (counties). Valle de la Pascua was placed in Chaguaramas canton. In 1848, by the presidential order of General José Tadeo Monagas, the Province of Caracas was redivided into four cantons and twenty-seven parishes. The parish of Valle de la Pascua was placed together with the canton capital of Chaguaramas, and the parishes of Chaguramal del Peral, Santa María de Ipire, Altamira, Altagracia de Iguana, Espino, Cabruta and Santa Rita de Manapire into Chaguaramas canton. In 1853 the canton of Chaguaramas was divided in two: Chaguaramas and Unare. Chaguaramas kept the town of Chaguaramas, Valle de la Pascua, Espino, Cabruta and Santa Rita de Manapire.