Uyapari

Uyapari was a large Indigenous settlement on the lower Orinoco near the head of its delta, at the riverbank site later known as Barrancas del Orinoco. Archaeological remains at Barrancas testify to a long tradition of pottery and settlement along the river. Early chroniclers described a substantial community of houses beside the riverbank, close to the channels and flooded lands of the delta.

In 1531 Diego de Ordaz led an expedition into the Orinoco and reached Uyapari. The encounter brought violence to a settlement that stood on a major water route between the delta and the interior. Much later, Capuchin missionaries established San Rafael de Barrancas in 1790, as part of their efforts to gather and convert Indigenous inhabitants of the lower Orinoco.