Aldea San Antonio is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the department of Gualeguaychú, in

Entre Ríos Province Entre Ríos (, "Between Rivers") is a Center Region, Argentina, central provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia, Argentina, Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires (so ...

, Argentina. It is located 55 km from the city of Gualeguaychú and about 255 km from the provincial capital,

Paraná Paraná, Paranã or Parana may refer to: Geology * Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin in South America Places In Argentina *Paraná, Entre Ríos, a city * Paraná Department, a part of Entre Ríos Province In Brazil *Paraná (state), a state ...

. According to the 2010 census, the village had 1,483 inhabitants. The village was founded on 27 February 1889 by immigrant

Volga Germans The Volga Germans (, ; ) are ethnic Germans who settled and historically lived along the Volga River in the region of southeastern European Russia around Saratov and close to Ukraine nearer to the south. Recruited as immigrants to Russia in the ...

from the village of Splavnukha (Huck) in

Saratov Oblast Saratov Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Volga Federal District. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Saratov. As of the 2021 Russian cens ...

, Russia.San Antonio, Departamento Gualeguaychú, Entre Ríos Province
. Center for Volga German Studies at Concordia University. Accessed November 2014. The mainstay of its economy is agriculture. Accesoaldeasanantonio

History

The land the village is located belonged to Jacobo Spangenberg, who sold it in 1889 to a contingent of

Volga German The Volga Germans (, ; ) are ethnic Germans who settled and historically lived along the Volga River in the region of southeastern European Russia around Saratov and close to Ukraine nearer to the south. Recruited as immigrants to Russia in th ...

settlers who founded the colony. In 1888, 19 families in the Puerto de Diamante were from the

Volga river The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

region. The majority of them came from Huck village, Sarátov Oblast in Russia. After a provisional stay in

Aldea Protestante Aldea Protestante is a village and municipality in north-eastern Entre Ríos Province in Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List ...

, they went to the area where they founded three villages:

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

, San Antonio, and Santa Celia. Thirty families settled in San Juan, and seventeen in San Antonio. On 24 February 1889, the village of San Antonio was founded. The community gradually grew to 507 inhabitants in 1991 and 791 in 2001. The governing board of the rural population center of Aldea San Antonio already existed on 11 August 1978, and new boundaries to the urban area were set by decree 809/1985 MGJE of 19 March 1985. The jurisdictional boundaries of the governing board were set by decree 6353/1986 MGJE of 22 December 1986. The second category municipality of Aldea San Antonio was approved by Law No. 7942 passed on 7 July 1987 and created by Decree No. 3927/1987 MGJE on 22 July 1987. By the same decree, Carlos Michel was appointed as commissioner for the building of the municipality. In September 1987, the first development board was elected. On 10 December 2011, the two categories of municipalities ceased to exist in Entre Ríos, due to the expiry of the development boards of the second category municipalities, applying the Municipal Regime Law No. 10 027 (sanctioned and enacted on 10 May 2011). Therefore, the municipalities were no longer categorized. Aldea San Antonio now has an executive department headed by a municipal president elected by the people and a deliberative council of 7 elected members.

Religion

It has three

evangelical churches Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian g ...

( ECRP, IEC, IELA), an

Adventist church Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher Willi ...

, a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

chapel, and associations of Volga German descendants. The largest church in the village is the Evangelical Protestant, with the Evangelical Church of the River Plate being the mother church of all the other evangelical churches and the one with the largest number of parishioners. It is followed by the Evangelical Congregational Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Argentina. Some inhabitants belong to the

Seventh-Day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sa ...

. A Catholic chapel was built for later immigrants and converts. La Aldea is characterized by being the mother colony of the Evangelicals in the area, especially towards Urdinarriain, Basavilbaso, and Gualeguaychú. For most of the inhabitants, church attendance continues to be an essential part of their idiosyncrasy. Municipalidadaldeasanantonio

Culture

Many residents are descendants of the German Volga immigrants, and many German traditions have been preserved. Since 1996, the Festival of the German Immigrant has been celebrated, in which the different cultural expressions of the village are showcased. Folklore groups are also invited to share in the celebration. The festival is celebrated in February, along with the anniversary of the creation of the village.

References

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History

Religion

Culture

References

Further reading