Meseta la Galera Natural Monument, Natural monument in Tovar, Mérida, Venezuela

Meseta la Galera is a protected plateau in Mérida, Venezuela, with a completely flat summit covered by secondary forest. Tree species such as cedro, bucare, and yagrumo grow across the surface, forming a dense canopy over the flat terrain.

The plateau was declared a Natural Monument by Decree No. 2352 of June 5, 1992, signed by President Carlos Andrés Pérez, and the designation was published in Official Gazette No. 4548 (Extraordinary) on March 26, 1993. The decree cites a geomorphological unit deposited during the Quaternary of fluvial origin, and it was issued to defend the hill from illegal occupations and even coffee plantings.

On the flat summit, at 1,055 m, stands a 12-metre effigy of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, known locally as Cristo Rey de La Galera. Tovar residents call the figure by that name and use the plateau as a landmark and gathering point above the city.

The flat summit lies at 1,055 m, about 120 m above the lowest point of the monument, and is reached on foot along ramps and trails from the urban edge of Tovar. INPARQUES began marking the protected boundary with four of eight set points on 12 April 2010, and its zone office planned a forest-firefighter station for the Mocotíes area. The ground is steep and partly wooded, so allow time for the climb.

The sources do not explain the name "galera"; what they record is that the flat-topped hill, about 1 km long, rises between the El Llano and Tovar parishes, separating the city from the Mocotíes River and the Loma de La Virgen hill. On its highest point, at 1055 m, stands a roughly 12 m effigy of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, known locally as Cristo Rey de La Galera.