Caracas is the capital and largest city of Venezuela.
The Paseo Los Próceres is a monument located near Fort Tiuna and the Military Academy of the Bolivarian Army. On the promenade there are statues of the heroes of the Independence of Venezuela, as well as symbolic sculptures.
The Federal Capitol occupies an entire city block, and, with its golden domes and neoclassical pediments, can seem even bigger. The building was commissioned by Antonio Guzmán Blanco and was built between 1872 and 1877, and is most famous for its Salón Elíptico, an oval hall with a mural-covered dome and walls lined with portraits of the country's great and good. The nearby Palacio Municipal de Caracas dating from 1696 was renovated in the Neoclassical style in 1906 and now serves as the city hall and the Caracas Museum.
The Caracas East Park ( Parque del Este , now officially Parque Generalísimo Francisco de Miranda) was designed by Brazilian architect Roberto Burle Marx. It is a green paradise in the middle of the city, and it contains a small zoo. A replica of the ship led by Francisco de Miranda, the Leander, is in the southern part of the park. Before there used to exist a replica of the Santa Maria ship, used by Christopher Columbus in his voyages to America.
The Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex (Complejo Cultural Teresa Carreño) is by far the most important theater of Caracas and Venezuela. The theater presents symphonic and popular concerts, operas, ballet, and dramatic works. It is the second largest theater in South America, after the Teatro Colón of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Skyscrapers may loom overhead, but there is more than a hint of original colonial flavor in this neatly proportioned reconstruction of the house where Simón Bolívar was born on 24 July 1783. The museum's exhibits include period weapons, banners and uniforms.
Much of the original colonial interior has been replaced by monumental paintings of battle scenes, but more personal relics can be seen in the nearby Bolivarian museum. The pride of the place goes to the coffin in which Bolívar's remains were brought from Colombia; his ashes now rest in the National Pantheon.
Venezuela's most venerated building is five blocks north of Plaza Bolívar, on the northern edge of the old town. Formerly a church, the building was given its new purpose as the final resting place for eminent Venezuelans by Antonio Guzmán Blanco in 1874.
At a short distance east of Plaza Bolívar is Parque Central, a concrete complex of five high-rise residential slabs of somewhat apocalyptic-appearing architecture, crowned by two 56-storey octagonal towers, one of them is under repair due to the fire which burnt the building on 17 October 2004.
Parque Central is Caracas' art and culture hub, with museums, cinemas and the Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex. The West Tower balcony, on the 52nd floor, gives a 360° bird's-eye view of Caracas.
El Hatillo is a neighborhood which was previously a colonial town, that is located in the south-east of Caracas in the municipal area of the same name. This small area, which is one of Venezuela's few well-preserved typical colonial areas, gives an idea of what Caracas was like in centuries past.
Cerro El Ávila (El Ávila mountain) (Indigenous name: Waraira Repano), is a mountain bordering Caracas. It rises next to Caracas, separating the city from the Caribbean Sea. The area's highest elevation is Pico Naiguatá, at 2,765 metres (9,072 ft) above sea level. It is considered the lungs of Caracas due to the amount of vegetation on the mountain.
This zone contains restaurants with varied gastronomical specialties, along with pubs, bars, pools and art galleries.
Altamira is a neighborhood in the Chacao municipality of Caracas. It has its own Metro Station, many hotels, malls and restaurants, and is an important business and cultural centre. The Francisco de Miranda avenue (a major avenue in Caracas) and the Distibuidor Altamira (a congested highway exit) are both in Altamira.
The Iglesia de San Francisco is of historical value. Bolívar's funeral was held here twelve years after his death. Here he was proclaimed Libertador in 1813 by the people of Caracas. The church has gilded baroque altarpieces, and retains much of its original colonial interior, despite being given a treatment in the 19th century under the auspices of Antonio Guzmán Blanco, which was intended to be modernizing.[ citation needed ] It contains some 17th-century masterpieces of art, carvings, sculptures and oil paintings. The Central University of Venezuela, established during the reign of Philip V, was lodged for centuries in the church cloisters next door, which today are the seat of the Language Academy, and the Academies of History, Physics, and Mathematics.
Caracas Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Caracas. Basilica of St. Teresa is designated a National Historic Landmark.
The Mosque of Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Ibrahim is the second largest mosque in Latin America. For many years it was the biggest. [2]
The Union Israelita de Caracas is the biggest Synagogue for the Jewish Ashkenazi community in Caracas. Its mission is to host the religious services and preserve the memory of the Jewish heritage in Venezuela. Similarly, Los Caobos the biggest Synagogue for the Jewish Sephardic community in Caracas.
Caracas, officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas. Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern part of the country, within the Caracas Valley of the Venezuelan coastal mountain range. The valley is close to the Caribbean Sea, separated from the coast by a steep 2,200-meter-high (7,200 ft) mountain range, Cerro El Ávila; to the south there are more hills and mountains. The Metropolitan Region of Caracas has an estimated population of almost 5 million inhabitants.
Valencia is the capital city of Carabobo State and the third-largest city in Venezuela.
Miranda State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela and the second most populous after Zulia State. As of the 2011 census, it had a population of 2,675,165 residents. It also has the greatest Human Development Index in Venezuela, according to the Venezuelan National Institute of Statistics. The most recent population estimate was 3,194,390 in mid-2016.
La Guaira State, officially La Guaira, and known until 2019 as Vargas State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. Formerly named after Venezuela's first civilian president, José María Vargas, Vargas comprises a coastal region in the north of Venezuela, bordering Aragua to the west, Miranda to the east, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Capital District to the south. It is home to both the country's largest seaport and airport. The state capital is La Guaira. The Litoral Varguense conurbation is the principal urban agglomeration in the state, which is part of the Greater Caracas Area.
Maturín is a city in Venezuela, the capital of the Venezuelan state of Monagas and a centre for instrumental exploration and development of the petroleum industry in Venezuela. The metropolitan area of Maturín has a population of 401,384 inhabitants. Maturín is also a busy regional transportation hub, connecting routes from the northeastern coast to the Orinoco Delta and the Gran Sabana.
Chacao is one of the five political and administrative subdivisions of the city of Caracas, Venezuela. The other four are Baruta, El Hatillo, Libertador and Sucre. This legal entity is known as the Caracas Metropolitan District. Chacao is also one of the 21 municipalities that make up the State of Miranda, Venezuela.
Altamira is a neighborhood located in the Chacao municipality of Caracas, Venezuela. It has its own Metro Station, many hotels and restaurants, and it is an important business and residential center of the city. It is also an important tourist destination and cultural center in Caracas. The Francisco de Miranda avenue and the Distibuidor Altamira are both located in Altamira. This neighborhood borders El Ávila National Park to the north, La Castellana neighborhood to the west, Los Palos Grandes to the east, and Bello Campo neighborhood to the south. It has an estimated area of 161 hectares or approximately 1.61 square kilometers.
Municipalities of Venezuela are subdivisions of the States of Venezuela. There are 335 municipalities dividing the 23 states and the Capital District.
The Libertador Bolivarian Municipality is the only administrative division of the Capital District of Venezuela and along with the municipalities of Baruta, Chacao, El Hatillo and Sucre forms the Metropolitan District of Caracas. It is landlocked by Vargas State and also borders Miranda State on the east and south. The municipality is one of a number in Venezuela named "Libertador Municipality", in honour of Venezuelan independence hero Simón Bolívar.
The Caracas Cathedral or Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Anne is the seat of the Roman Catholic Metropolitan archdiocese of Caracas, located on the Plaza Bolívar in Caracas, Venezuela. Its chapel of the Holy Trinity is the burial site of the parents and wife of Simón Bolívar. The Nuestra Senora de Venezuela y Santa Ana is a square (cuadra) situated between the cathedral and the central plaza, which is walled on three sides, but open to the east where it faces the cathedral.
In Venezuela, since the opening of the Teatro Caracas and, earlier, the Teatro Maderero, there has been a great lyrical tradition ranging from serious opera to operetta, zarzuela, and Spanish musical reviews.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Caracas, Venezuela.
The Birthplace of Simón Bolívar is a seventeenth-century house in the Venezuelan capital city Caracas where the hero of Venezuelan and Latin American independence, Simón Bolívar, was born. Now a significant tourist attraction, the building is located in a little street off the Plaza San Jacinto, a block east of the Plaza Bolívar. It is one of only a few houses from the colonial era which survive in central Caracas.
Bolívar Square in Caracas is one of the most important and recognized Venezuelan public spaces. It is located in the center of the first 25 blocks of Caracas when it was founded as "Santiago de León de Caracas" in 1567. It is in the historic center of the city in the Cathedral Parish of the Libertador Municipality.
The Bolivarian Museum is dedicated to Simón Bolívar, the hero of Latin American independence. It is situated in Caracas, Venezuela. The museum is run in tandem with the birthplace of Simón Bolívar next door. The collections include items related to Bolivar and Venezuelan independence.
The Sabana Grande district is divided into several middle class neighborhoods located in the Parroquia El Recreo of the Libertador Municipality, in the geographical center of the Metropolitan District of Caracas and owes its name to the old town of Sabana Grande.
The Boulevard of Sabana Grande is an important leisure and shopping area located in eastern Caracas in the geographic center of the Metropolitan District of Caracas. It is a pedestrian-only, tree-shaded public space. In 2011, the boulevard of Sabana Grande went through a rehabilitation process founded by PDVSA La Estancia. A commercial and financial district, Sabana Grande is the commercial corridor, and a tourist district of Caracas. The boulevard of Sabana Grande is home to the most important ornithological collection in Latin America, the William Phelps Ornithological Collection. Until the beginning of the 20th century, it was called Calle Real because it was the town's main road.
Avenida Bolívar, in English Bolívar Avenue, is an important avenue located in the Libertador Bolivarian Municipality in the west of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.
The Teatro Simón Bolívar is a cultural and theatre complex located in the Libertador Municipality of Caracas. It is in the Rialto building near the Yellow House, the La Francia building, and Plaza Bolívar.
