Lopinot

Lopinot is a village in Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the foothills of the Northern Range, just north of Arouca. It is governed by the Tunapuna-Piarco Regional Corporation. The valley is named after the Comte de Loppinot who settled there in the eighteenth century. Lopinot has long been a centre for Spanish culture in Trinidad, and most of the people in the area are of Venezuelan heritage, referred to as Cocoa Panyols. It is noted for the historical site which contains cocoa plantations and the brick oven which is a tourist attraction. Lopinot is a major centre of parang music and parranderos at Christmas time.

Comte Charles-Joseph de Loppinot, Knight of the Royal Military Order of St Louis, Colonel of the Legion of Calvador and Lieutenant General of the French Army, gentleman of the court, arrived in Trinidad in April 1800 and from the first time that he laid his eyes on the valley, he declared it to be one of the most beautiful spots in the colony. He eventually acquired the property and established a cocoa and coffee plantation which he called "La Reconnaissance".

After de Loppinot died in 1819 he left a thriving plantation, and during his time, Trinidad ranked in the top four producers of cocoa in the world with the best quality to boot.

In the 1940s, the nearby village of La Veronica (Caura) was demolished by British Governor Bede Clifford to build a dam that was never completed. Most of the people in that village were Panyols whose families had come to Trinidad from Venezuela since the early 1800s to lend their expertise in cocoa cultivation. After the destruction of their village, many of the Panyols joined the mainstream Black and Indian Trinidadian cultures, but many came and settled in Lopinot. Today, Lopinot is one of the few places where Trinidadian Spanish culture continues to thrive.

See the website Lopinot Adventures [ [http://www.geocities.com/lopinotadventures] by Arthur Guerrero for the full history of Lopinot and its evolution into a modern-day eco-tourist haven.

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