Colonia Suiza (''In English, Swiss Colony'') is a town in the municipality of

San Carlos de Bariloche San Carlos de Bariloche (from the Mapuche name ''Vuriloche'', meaning "people from the other side of the mountain"), commonly known simply as Bariloche (), is the largest city in the Argentine province of Río Negro and the seat of the departm ...

, in the

Bariloche Department Bariloche is a department of Río Negro Province, Argentina. Geography The department lies in the extreme west of the Rio Negro province. Its borders adjoin: * Neuquén Province to the north * Pilcaniyeu and Ñorquincó departments to th ...

, Río Negro,

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 of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. It is located about 25 km from the city of

at the foot of

Cerro López Cerro is Spanish for "hill" or "mountain". People * Francisco Cerro (born 1988), Argentine footballer * Francisco Cerro Chaves (born 1957), Spanish prelate, theologian, and philosopher of the Catholic Church * Ian Cerro (born 1996), American f ...

History

The first population arrived in

1883 Events January * January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. * January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. * January 16 – ...

, when Henriette Goye-Borgeat and Joseph Goye, along with four of their children emigrated to

from

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

Canton of Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Commercial activity

It has places to spend the night and restaurants that offer services to tourists who visit the region. The preparation of a meal called

curanto Curanto (from 'stony') is a traditional Chilote method of cooking food using heated rocks buried in an earth oven that is covered with pangue leaves and turf. The fundamental components are seafood, potatoes, along with other traditional prepar ...

stands out, originating in the south of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and Argentina, in which the food is cooked in a hole dug in the ground, filled with hot stones. There is also exploitation of small crops of raspberries and fruits from cold climates.

Population

It has increased to 150 in 2010 which represents an increase of 74% compared to the 86 of the previous census.

References

External links

ColoniaSuiza.com.ar

Tourism in Colonia Suiza

Colonia Suiza Historical Site
{{Authority control Populated places in Río Negro Province