TURISMO
RIVERA
HISTORY
-It was founded in 1888 in the communal sector "Aguas Calientes" with the name of San Mateo, at the initiative of Vicente Poveda, who built the first houses with the help of the neighbors. It previously belonged to the Poveda family from Italy who sold their farm to the Rivera family. The town was a district of the city of Neiva until May 17, 1943, when it was segregated from the territories of the capital to be erected a municipality. It was renamed "Rivera" in memory of José Eustasio Rivera, a writer born there in 1888.
-Rivera is a Colombian municipality located in the northeast of the Huila department. In the territory of the municipality there are two different regions: one to the east: mountainous, belonging to the western slope of the eastern mountain range; the other to the west: flat, included in the valley of the Magdalena river. It is part of the Sub Norte region of the department. Its territorial extension is 404 km, its height is 700 meters above sea level and its average temperature is 25ºC.
-It has a population of 19,566 inhabitants according to the DANE projection for 2019.4 The productive sector is based on agriculture: The production of flowers stands out: orchids and lilies and the poultry activity is especially important in Riverita, Ulloa, Guadual and the urban area. Another important line is tourism, thanks to its climate and its hot springs. In its territory is one of the development zones of the department due to its proximity to the capital: Neiva.
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-Talking about the land of José Eustasio Rivera, implies many things such as remembering those moments of its foundation, describing its accelerated growth and knowing everything that happens around it today.
-Rivera hides in the memory of its people, about the colors of its mountains, in the blue of its skies and under its crystalline waters; unforgettable moments in its history, like that past starring the first settlers of the municipality in the 1800s, when this Land of Promise had no name, it was naive, small and so shy that it hid up in the mountains. In those times the inhabitants of Rivera were the indigenous Tamas, who were characterized by their bellicosity.
-According to the grandparents, this indigenous community fled the mountain, because they felt panic of the so far supposed volcano located on the sides of the Salado and Agua Caliente.
FOUNDER:
VICENTE POVEDA
SOURCES FROM THE ECONOMY
-The municipality of Rivera has a large economy that has allowed the development and growth of small businesses. In the riverenses mountains the most harvested crops are the boat, the grape, coffee, cocoa and the raising of cattle. Trade has increased thanks to the creation of food establishments, warehouses, payment points, banks and the sale of clothing, footwear, natural products, handicrafts, among others, which makes the municipality's economy grow day by day.
- Based on livestock, agriculture, fish farming and tourism. The most important crops are: cocoa, coffee, rice, cotton, corn, cassava, peas, sugar cane, blond tobacco, beans and fruit trees. Flower production stands out: orchids and lilies
CHARACTERS
-José Eustasio Rivera was born on February 19, 1888 in Neiva del Hulia, Colombia. He studied at the schools of Santa Librada, San Luis Gonzaga de ElÃas and at the Central Normal School of Bogotá. He enrolled in the Faculty of Law of the National University of Colombia, and received his doctorate in Law and Political Science on March 3, 1917.
-He wrote poetry, Parnassian-style sonnets published in the book Land of Promise (1921), but his consecration as an author came from the hand of his novel La Vorágine (1924), a naturalistic work considered as the great novel of the Latin American jungle.
-He worked as a lawyer, was a deputy to Congress and a government inspector in the oil fields of the Magdalena region. He was the representative of his country in Mexico (1921), Peru (1924) and Cuba (1928). He participated in the setting of the limits between Venezuela and Colombia which allowed him to know Los Llanos and also the tropical jungle.
-Died in New York on December 1, 1928.
SEMINAR HIGHER
NAME
The Major Seminary of San Esteban, Protomartyr, in honor of Jesus Christ the High and Eternal Priest; It owes its name to San Esteban, the first Martyr of the Church, and to Bishop Esteban Rojas Tovar, Bishop of the Diocese of Tolima (1895-1900) whose episcopal See was Neiva.
LOCATION
The San Esteban Major Seminary is located in the Alto Pedregal village of the Rivera municipality, 1,200 meters from the urban area. It has facilities that harmonize with the country environment, providing an environment for study, prayer and fraternal sharing.
BRIEF HISTORICAL REVIEW
From the time of the first Bishop of Neiva, Bishop Rafael Sarmiento Peralta, the creation of the Diocesan Seminary began to be aired. In this period the issue was only dealt with in the Presbyteral Council and to hear some offers for the headquarters of the Seminary, such as San Antonio de Anaconia (Neiva), Ulloa (Rivera), and Yaguará.
-As a result of the reconciliation mission carried out in the city of Neiva in 1992, it was necessary to give maximum importance to the Vocation Ministry, with a view to increasing the number of priests who would attend to the demographic growth of the Diocese and the ongoing challenges that this brings. In this way, the creation of the Seminary arose as a necessity.