Colonia Valdense

Colonia Valdense is a small city located in southwestern Uruguay, within the Colonia Department. It is home to around 3,200 people.

Colonia Valdense
City
Celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Italian immigrants.
Colonia Valdense
Location within Uruguay
Coordinates: 34°20′18″S 57°15′55″W
Country Uruguay
Department Colonia
Elevation
34 m (112 ft)
Population
 (2011 Census)
 • Total3,235
Time zoneUTC -3
Postal code
70400
Dial plan+598 455 (+5 digits)
Temple of the Iglesia Evangélica Valdense

Location

It lies along Route 1, 120 kilometres (75 mi) west of Montevideo and about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) west of its intersection with Route 51.

History

Colonia Valdense was founded in 1856 (officially as "Valdense"), following the arrival of Italian immigrants from Piedmont and the Aosta Valley. The town is named after Pierre Valdo, a French priest founder of the religious movement known as "The Waldensians". The Waldensian Evangelical Church has a strong presence here.

Language

Spoken dialect was the Patois, which was an occitan dialect spoken in the town of Villar Pellice in Italy from where the settlers were originated. The dialect was spoken mainly in the Colonia Department, where the first pilgrims settled, in the city called La Paz, Colonia. Today it is considered a dead language, although some elders at the mentioned location still practice it. There are still written tracts of the language in the Waldensians Library (Biblioteca Valdense) in the town of Colonia Valdense, Colonia Department. Patois speaker arrived to Uruguay from the Piedmont. Originally were Vaudois which become Waldensians giving their name to the city Colonia Valdense which translated from the Spanish means Waldensians Colony.[1]

Its status was elevated to "Pueblo" (village) on 6 November 1951 by the Act of Ley N° 11.742.[2] On 24 September 1982, it was renamed to "Colonia Valdense" and its status was elevated to "Ciudad" (city) by the Act of Decreto-Ley N° 15.323.[3]

Population

According to the 2011 census, Colonia Valdense had a population of 3,235.[4]

YearPopulation
19631,663
19752,140
19852,409
19962,876
20043,087
20113,235

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística de Uruguay[5]

Places of worship

Twin towns

References
  1. http://dedicaciontotal.udelar.edu.uy/adjuntos/produccion/742_academicas__academicaarchivo.pdf
  2. "LEY N° 11.742". República Oriental del Uruguay, Poder Legislativo. 1951. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  3. "LEY N° 15.323". República Oriental del Uruguay, Poder Legislativo. 1982. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  4. "Censos 2011 Cuadros Colonia". INE. 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  5. "Statistics of urban localities (1963–2004) (see also "Valdense")" (PDF). INE. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-11-13. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  6. Colonia Valdense (in Spanish)


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