Geschichte Placencias

Placencia,  Belize

SEINE BIGHT

MAYA BEACH

Placencia hat eine lange Geschichte der Besiedelung, beginnend mit den Mayas, die mindestens 14 Stellen entlang der Lagune besiedelten. Sie waren hauptsächlich mit der Salzproduktion beschäftigt und beteiligten sich am intensiven Küstenhandel.

Im 17. Jahrhundert wurde Placencia von den Englischen Puritanern, die ursprünglich aus Nova Scotia und später von der Insel Providencia stammten, besiedelt. Diese Siedlung starb aber während der Mittelamerikanischen Unabhängigkeitskriege in den Zwanziger Jahren des 19. Jahrhunderts aus.

Die Spanier, die die Südküste von Belize bereisten, gaben Placencia seinen Namen. Zu dieser Zeit wurde Placencia Placentia und dessen Spitze „Punta Placentia“ oder „Pleasant Point“ genannt. Die Placencia Halbinsel wurde dann im späten 19. Jahrhundert von der Garbutt Familie wieder besiedelt, die dann auch fast die gesamte Halbinsel besaß. Im Jahr 1894 kam dann Abner Westby, dessen Familie aus Schottland stammte nach Placencia und erwarb Land von den Garbutts.

He was later joined by a younger member of his family, John Eiley. The Cabral family, originally from Lisbon, Portugal, closed their business in Sao Paulo, Brazil and the Caribbean and sailed to the southern part of Belize on two schooners, The Colibri and The Jane. Soon they began doing business with and eventually married into the Placencia community. In the early 1900's the Leslie's, originally from Rotan, also came to Placencia.

Placencia prospered and soon became a village, earning its livelihood from the sea. On June 20th, 1962, the fishermen of the Village came together and formed the Placencia Produces Cooperative, which is still in limited operation today to provide the village with competitive prices for their seafood production. In the early 1970's Placencia was provided with electricity (although sometimes less than 110V) from the generators of the Cooperative, and eventually in 1993 the Belize Electricity Limited assumed that role, providing 110V and 220V to supply the increasing demand.

Placencia is as culturally diverse today as it was in its formation. Walking down the sidewalk on any given day you will see and hear people from all over Belize and the world gracing our little village. The people here today are united in their love for the sea and in their commitment to tourism and development.

Since 1990, Placencia has made large and sure strides toward making it one of the most popular tourist destinations in Belize. Hurricane Iris that hit the village on October 8 of 2001 set Placencia back a bit but today Placencia is back on the track of tourism.