Creativesideofsu's Blog

Lopinot was founded in 1806 by the French

Count of that same name. ( Originally spelt LOPPINOT )

This makes thecommunity 203 years old. The history behind

this idyllic and serene village is extraordinary.

When the Count arrived in Trinidad

after fleeing St. Domingue (Haiti) with his

servants and slaves, he did not at first settle

in the valley we know today. That area was

untouched and would have remained so had it

not been for the failure of his efforts to harvest

Sugar as his main crop in Tacarigua. After legal battles which

acquitted him of all debts, he tried anew and

proceeded up the Arouca River, where he

came across a most beautiful valley and laid

the foundation for what is now the Community

named after him. He named his estate

” La Reconnaissance. ” and endeavoured to

plant new emerging crops: Cocoa and Coffee.

He died a few years after settling in as a result of a horse

riding accident and the estate was left to his wife

whose grief soon sent her to her husband’s side in his

tomb. La Reconnaissance was left to be reclaimed

by nature and was occasionally sold from one hand to

the other and eventually ended up as state property.

The estate was now left abandoned and forlorn .

Then, in 1939, the British Government

decided that the neighbouring valley

of Caura would be utilized as a dam

to cater for the water needs of a

bourgeoning national population. The

residents from the Village of

La Veronica (There never was a Cuara

Village) were, by 1945, resettled

on the Lopinot Estate. They brought

their Venezuelan traditions with them,

traditions like the Cruz de Mayo and

Parang which are still alive and well.

Caura Valley was never converted into a dam. Legend has

it that the project was cursed by the resident Catholic Priest

whose Church was dynamited to make way for the ill-fated

construction.

The years passed slowly and time stayed his hand in this

most serene and alluring of communities. Proud Hispanic

Traditions live on in this” Valley of Living Heritage”

The village was also a site for almost daily

visits from the residents of the villages of

Buenos Ayres and La Pastora ,

neighboring communities to the North

of Lopinot.

The daily routines on the Cocoa estates

of La Pastora, Buenos Ayres and Lopinot

Settlement accompanied as usual by the

sound of the noble and sincere music we

know as Parang, were a work of art. Cocoa

and citrus Estates in Trinidad are the only

man induced forest systems that actually

resemble a natural forested system in nearly all

respects. “Cocoa payols” were essentially our first eco-friendly

agronomists.

What we know as Lopinot Village today has not changed much

from the early years except for the Restoration of the Count’s

House of Residence which is commonly called the Historical

Complex or Lopinot’s House. This community still remains one

of the most serenely beautiful places in Trinidad & Tobago.