2023-07-10 23:50:00
The picturesque town of Gaiman, located in the lower valley of the Chubut River, was selected along with six other towns to represent Argentina in the «Best tourism villages»an event promoted by the World Tourism Organization to highlight destinations that preserve “traditions and heritage”, offering a different alternative for visitors.
The cradle of Welsh culture
Gaiman, with about 13,000 inhabitants, is located 40 kilometers west of Rawson, capital of the province, and is considered the cradle of welsh culture by the settlers who arrived in these lands in 1865, beginning one of the most peaceful integration processes in the history of humanity, since it was done in communion with the native Tehuelche people.
Ex-Railway Tunnel. Built in 1914 to overcome the obstacle of the fences and continue the laying of the tracks to Dolavon. Currently, it proposes a tour with audiovisual posters, which tells chronologically the beginning, development and closure of the Central del Chubut railway. Photo: Pedro Tagliabue
“We are very happy to have been selected because we are a community that feels honored by our past, proud of our present and with enormous expectations for the future,” says the local mayor, Dario James, in dialogue with Télam.
The Jameses, as well as other recurring surnames such as Owen, Thomas, Evans, Jones, Davies, Williams, Lewis, Hughes, among many others, they are exponents of the Welsh descent that settled in the valley of the Chubut river.
Tourists from all over the world enjoy the famous Welsh cakes. Photo: Press
The seal of Welsh ancestry is printed on the protestant chapels that rose in different places in the rural area, in the houses where tea is served with exquisite European pastries, in the museums that evoke colonial times and in the choral groups that sing stories from the other side of the ocean.
James adds that “Gaiman is, on top of all that, also cradle of democracy because it was the first commune that was organized, in colonial times, with the participation of the residents to elect the authorities, in addition to having constituted the first system of trial by jury in these lands that was recently formally instituted by the system modern judiciary.
Gaiman’s rural charm. Photo: Press
The same tourists from Wales are surprised when they arrive and see businesses with names in that language, streets that are familiar to him, surnames and neighbors who speak fluent Welsh that they themselves, in their country of origin, are gradually losing, subsumed by English.
«Not only that, here there is also even a bilingual kindergarten where Spanish and Welsh are equally applied as languages, which is unique in the world,” explained Mayor James.
Families, a bit jokingly and a bit seriously, tend to distinguish each other according to the contingent in which their ancestors arrived by boat on these shores, because Those who arrived on the first ship, the sailboat “Mimosa”, do not have the same “ancestry” ase who came in successive overseas arrivals.
That is why Mayor James clarifies: “I am the fourth generation and of the second contingent.”
In terms of accommodation, Gaiman It has 4 inns, 2 cabins, an inn and several rural establishments.
Many visitors, especially those arriving from Wales, often stay with relatives, friends or ‘acquaintances of acquaintances’.
Postcards from the walks in Gaiman. Photo: Press.
Gaiman’s tourism director, Marcela Plust, admits in a dialogue with Télam that “we have a lot to do, especially in terms of infrastructure, but we believe that our tourism growth has no ceiling because it is built on very solid foundations that have to do with tradition and culture«.
The names of the chapels that were built during the 19th century in strategic places in the valley near Gaiman are a hallmark of Welsh origin: “Seion”, “Bryn Crwn”, “Salem”, “Bethesda”, “Bethlehem”, “Nazareth Glan », «Alaw» and «Bethel».
Land of paleontological treasures. Photo: Press.
The meaning of the word Gaiman offers various forms of translation, although the most established version is “Stone Point” which alludes to a hill with a conical point that can be seen from several kilometers away and was the reference used by the “rakes” of herdsmen and natives to reach the place.
The writer and researcher Donald Thomas in his publication “The name of my town” reviews the different interpretations of Gaiman as a denomination where he recognizes the difficulties in unraveling the meaning taking into account that is a word from the Tehuelche languageabout which there are no written records.
By Carlos Di Filippo, Telam Agency.
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