San-Dávido

History

The history of San-Dávido originates in the mid-19th century when Welsh-language colonisers, looking for a new life in the New World where they could speak their persecuted language, were venturing to the recently created Welsh-language colony that had been previously established in Patagonia. However in 1866, en route to southern Argentina, the ship carrying the second wave of colonists had to look for a safe haven to ride out an oncoming Atlantic storm, and so found a secluded bay in the Paradiso islands from which the ship could safely harbour from the high winds and waves. As the colonists and crew decided to disembark from the violently tossed about ship and safely forage for some supplies, they discovered the beauty of the location that they had haphazardly found. Resultantly, the colonists decided to make their new home on the Paradisian island instead of venturing onwards on the treacherous seas.

These early Welsh colonists named their new settlement Saint David’s, in honour of their homeland’s patron saint, although this name subsequently changed to the more Paradisian sounding ‘San-Dávido’ to encourage more people to live in the ever-growing settlement by giving it a more ‘glamorous name’. The burgeoning fishing port also became an important stopping-off, mid-way point for the many ships making the trip from Wales to Patagonia and back again. As a result, many Cambro-Argentines decided to make the trip to San-Dávido to start a new life there, especially when the terrain in the Chubut Valley was perhaps not as picturesque as was initially led to believe when they had left their homeland. In addition, other Argentines made the trip northwards during the economic hard times in the South American country throughout the late 19th century and early 20th century, as well as a continuous smattering of Brazilians during the 1920s and 30s through various reasons. Over time, the city has become a hybrid of both nations by being heavily influenced by both Wales and Argentina, with a touch of Brazilian flavour through its small but significant Brazilian community.

Flag of San-Dávido

The three cultures are also shown in San-Dávido’s flag (as shown previously), which was adopted on Paradiso’s independence in 1962, with the three colours representing the three origin countries of the city. The upper red colour represents the first Welsh settlers to the city, as well as the city’s industry and the blood that was shed to create the city; the middle sky blue representing the second Argentine settlers, and the bountiful seas which helped the city to grow; and the yellow representing the third Brazilian settlers to the city and also represents the city’s golden beaches and prosperous future. The white left-hand canton represents the peace and tranquility of Paradiso which links the three communities together, with the red anchor showing the Welsh history of the city’s founding and being an indicator of the city’s naval past.

Languages and Cárnivalé

As well as speaking the native languages of Paradiso, the city also speaks its own version of Welsh, known as Paradisian Welsh, “Sandavidan”, or “Vida”, which uses Welsh as its baseline but uses a large number of Patagonian Spanish, Paradisian Patois, and Brazilian Portuguese words in its dictionary. ‘Vida’ music is also very prevalent within the city, with its heavy tango and samba musical influences creating a unique musical genre which is synonymous to the island.

Vida music is hugely prevalent during the city’s famous annual ‘Cárnivalé’ parade that brings hundreds of thousands of people into San-Dávido for the day. The festival celebrates the feast day of Wales’ and the city’s patron saint, Saint David, on every March 1st, whilst also welcoming in the new spring and summer and the end of winter, as the day is metrologically regarded as the first day of spring. The Cárnivalé has its origins in the Brazilian community in the city who took huge inspirations from the carnivals from their homeland to bring a bit of colour and flavour to their locality, and a thank you for getting through another winter. This results in colourful costumes as people dance through the city, whilst local schools, clubs, guilds, companies, etc. create floats for the procession which snake throughout San-Dávido for the whole evening.

The day starts with the mayor of the city, known as the ‘Archdruid’ for the day (a name taken from the Welsh Eisteddfod, which also influences the Cárnivalé) blowing a large horn at sunrise at the Landing Arch monument to supposedly warn off the potential bad spirits and winter’s grasp for another year. The morning and afternoon take on a more chilled out affair due to the warmth of the sunshine, with poetry and singing (solo and group) competitions taking part in the city (again another Eisteddfod inspiration). At exactly 6pm, the true Cárnivalé can begin with the dancing and float procession leaving from the portside before dancing and snaking its way throughout the city, providing a party atmosphere for every district of the conurbation. Traditionally the Archdruid is at the front of the procession, wearing a colourful robe in the colours of the San-Dávido flag and flanked by ‘druids’ waving the Paradiso and San-Dávido flags, whilst the Archdruid throws sweets into the crowd as he leads the procession.

This procession can last until well after midnight, although it is known for parties to continue until dawn of the following day - the reason so many people travel to the city. The most sought after-party to attend is the Presidential Cárnivalé party, which is meant to be ‘no expense spared’ with the current President a huge fan of the cárnivalé spirit.

Landmarks

San-Dávido’s most famous landmark is the Landing Arch (Welsh: Cae Glanio) situated on the city’s promenade and civil marina complex. The stone arch was formally completed and opened in 1926 in time for the city’s 60th anniversary, although it had been originally designed to celebrate the city’s 50th anniversary in 1916 but had been delayed in its construction due to the First World War. The location of the arch is significant for the city’s history as it is supposedly situated on the exact site where the first Sandavidian settlers landed onto the island during that stormy day in 1866.

The triumphal arch is made of the local basalt rock quarried from the interior of the island (and would be used for other grand buildings throughout the northeastern island) and was designed by local architect Rhogerio Ellis-Williams. Ellis-Williams had been inspired by the unique Indo-Saracenic designs of buildings during his tour of the British Raj in the early 1910s, and was determined to introduce some aspects of the iconic design theme into his hometown. Having received advice from fellow architect George Wittet, he came up with the design proposal when the city’s council launched an open contest to create a landmark to commemorate San-Dávido’s golden anniversary. After some consideration by the city’s council, Ellis-Williams’ design was chosen as Indian designs were all the rage in those days. Initial work on the foundations started in early 1914 although this was halted at the outbreak of WW1, with all resources being diverted to the Imperial war effort.

Post-WW1, the city’s council restarted construction of the arch in 1922 hoping that the landmark would be able to restore pride in the city and become a beacon of hope for San-Dávido after the devastation of ‘The Great War’. Construction of the foundation and arch took about 36 months, and the arch was formally opened in 1926 by the then Prince of Wales, the future British king Edward VIII. Landing Arch has the inscription of the date of the city’s founding in both Welsh and Spanish along the top of the arch, with a Brazilian Portuguese inscription added in 1956 (the 90th anniversary of the city) to recognise and celebrate the impact the Brazilian community had achieved upon San-Dávido.

Today, Landing Arch has become the recognisable landmark of the city of San-Dávido, with the stone arch being a major tourist hotspot within the city and upon northeastern island. It has also become the usual centrepiece of all civil celebrations within the city with the Arch being central in all San-Dávido’s New Year’s firework displays, as well as being the main hub from which the annual Cárnivalé celebrations commence from. As with many objects in the city, a commonly stated myth about the Landing Arch is that “should it ever collapse, then Poseidon and the Kingdom of the Sea will claim San-Dávido as their own domain…”

Industry and modern San-Dávido

Today the port city is one of the most culturally interesting places in Paradiso due to its influences from its mother countries. Historically, it was one of the more important fishing havens on the islands, with a bountiful treasure of various fish just offshore from the then-town. It is still an important port and trade node for the Paradiso islands, as well as being a major hub for communications and education, with the University of San-Dávido (founded in 1884) being one of the country’s most respected higher education centres. This replaced the initial fishing industry, which dominated the local economy, until the fish price crash in the 1960s which forced the city to diversify its employment options to avoid vast unemployment from occuring with many of the larger fish processing factories either closing or moving elsewhere in Paradiso where fish stocks were higher. There are still small-scale fish processing factories in the city, and an active fishing/trawling fleet, but the numbers have been reduced to less than 10% of the number that existed at its zenith in 1952, with only low numbers of tonnage of fish now being caught.

Many former fishermen are now branching out into the more lucrative business of tourism, either showing tourists the beautiful shores and picuresque spots of the islands, enacting more environmentally sustainable rod fishing trips for more high paying customers, or creating water-taxi services that carry travellers around the various tourist venues on the island. With the northeastern island’s economy expanding in the tourist cliente to generate money and development on the island, it has meant that catering for high-spending visitors has become an important sector of employment and a crucial revenue stream within the city, something which is especially prevalent during the Cárnivalé period.

San-Dávido is still an important port and trade node for the Paradiso islands by being the most important transport junction in the northeast of the country, as well as being a major hub for communications (traditionally being the headquarters of Paradiso’s largest telecommunications company ParaTel) and education, with the University of San-Dávido (founded in 1884) being one of the Caribbean’s most respected higher education centres. As well as communication, the city has garnered a reputation for being an excellent place for start-up businesses due to its favourable tax and business rates, incredibly quick internet speeds, and its excellent infrastructural links with the other Paradisian and Caribbean islands.

San-Dávido is home to one of Paradiso’s biggest football clubs, Mimosa San-Dávido.

Points of interest

The Landing Arch (Welsh: Cae Glanio)

Former names:
Saint David’s

Alternative names:
Porthadewis (Paradisian Welsh)
Treddewi Newydd (Welsh)

Nicknames:
Porta Vida
Welshtown

Coordinates:

Founded:
1866

Population:

Clubs:
Mimosa San-Dávido

Places of interest:
The Landing Arch (Cae Glanio)

Type

City

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