Jewish cemetery of Coro facts for kids
Front of the Jewish Cemetery of Coro.
|
|
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1832 |
| Location | |
| Country | Venezuela |
| Type | Jewish (open) |
| Size | ? |
| No. of graves | ? |
The Jewish Cemetery of Coro is a very old and special place. It's the oldest Jewish cemetery in the Americas that is still used today. In Spanish, it's called Cementerio Judío de Coro.
History of the Coro Jewish Cemetery
This cemetery started a long time ago, in the 1800s. Many Jewish families from Curaçao, an island near Venezuela, moved to the city of Santa Ana de Coro in 1824. These families were Spanish and Portuguese Jews, meaning their ancestors came from Spain and Portugal.
The cemetery officially opened in 1832. A couple named Joseph Curiel and Debora Levy Maduro bought the land. They needed a place to bury their daughter, Hana, and that's how the cemetery began.
Inside the cemetery, you can see many beautiful tombs and mausoleums. These are like small buildings for graves. They show how important the Jewish community was in Coro. The Jewish people helped trade grow a lot with the Netherlands Antilles, which made the city rich. The cemetery is located in an area called Pantano Abajo.
A famous Venezuelan poet, Elias David Curiel, is also buried here. He was of Sephardic Jewish background.
Protecting the Cemetery
The cemetery was fixed up in the 1970s. This happened with help from the Israelite Association of Venezuela and the Venezuelan government.
Since 2005, the city of Santa Ana de Coro has been on a special list. It's called the list of World Heritage in Danger. This is because heavy rains have damaged many old buildings in the city, including the cemetery.
In 2009, an agreement was made to rebuild the cemetery. The Caracas Center for Sephardic Studies worked with a construction company called Constructora Sambil. This company is owned by Salomon Cohen, whose family is well-known in the Jewish community.
See also
In Spanish: Cementerio judío de Coro para niños
- History of the Jews in Venezuela
- Coro Synagogue
- History of the Jews in Curaçao
