Welcome to Caracas, officially Santiago de León de Caracas, the capital and largest city of Venezuela. It lies along the Guaire River in a valley of the coastal mountain range in the north of the country. The Caribbean Sea is close by, yet hidden from view behind Cerro El Ávila, a steep mountain wall about 2,200 metres high. Caracas is the country's cultural capital, full of theatres and museums, and it is home to some of the tallest skyscrapers in Latin America. Our tour follows the footsteps of Simón Bolívar, so let us begin in the old heart of the city.
Bolívar Square
Photo: Omerta-ve · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsWe begin on Bolívar Square, one of the most important public spaces in Venezuela. It lies at the centre of the first 25 blocks of Caracas, laid out when the city was founded in 1567, and it was intended from the start as the main square and trading centre. Around you stand the cathedral, the Archbishop's Palace, City Hall and the Yellow House. In 1754 the governor ordered arcades to be built around the square. It also has a darker past: under Spanish colonial rule, this was where political enemies and conspirators were executed.
National Pantheon of Venezuela
Photo: Wilfredor · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsOn the northern edge of the old town stands the National Pantheon, the final resting place of the nation's heroes. It was created in the 1870s on the site of a ruined church from 1744. Step inside and you will see that the entire central nave belongs to Simón Bolívar: where the altar would be lies his bronze sarcophagus, while lesser figures rest in the aisles. The vault is covered with paintings from the 1930s showing scenes from his life, and the huge crystal chandelier above was installed in 1883, on the centenary of his birth.
Caracas Cathedral
Photo: Alexis Carmona · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsFacing Bolívar Square is Caracas Cathedral, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Anne and seat of the city's archdiocese. Construction of the cathedral began in 1666, replacing a small church, and was completed in 1674. Its façade, dating from 1771, is the work of Francisco Andrés de Meneses. The building has been rebuilt and restored many times, not least after the great earthquake that struck Caracas on Holy Thursday, 26 March 1812. Inside, the Chapel of the Holy Trinity holds the graves of Simón Bolívar's parents and his wife.
El Ávila National Park
Photo: Guillermo Ramos Flamerich · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsLift your eyes to the mountain to the north. This is El Ávila National Park, officially Waraira Repano after its indigenous Cariban name. Its highest point, Pico Naiguatá, rises to 2,765 metres. Residents call it the lungs of the city, and it even helps them find their way, because the peak always marks the north. You can run, cycle, climb, camp or zip-line here, and it is home to the longest cable car ride in the world. Every December, a great illuminated Christmas cross high on the mountain shines out over the city and can be seen from very far away.
Birthplace of Simón Bolívar
Photo: Jesús Rincón · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsIn a little street just a block east of Bolívar Square stands a 17th-century house where Simón Bolívar, the hero of Venezuelan and Latin American independence, was born. It is one of only a few colonial-era houses to survive in central Caracas. Next door, a Bolivarian museum completes the visit. Together, the house and museum display memorabilia of Bolívar and the Venezuelan War of Independence, along with weapons and furniture of the period.
University City of Caracas
Photo: Wilfredor · CC0 · Wikimedia CommonsEnd your tour at the University City of Caracas, the main campus of the Central University of Venezuela, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. It was designed by the Venezuelan architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva, who oversaw its construction for 20 years. It remains the only 20th-century campus designed by a single architect to receive this UNESCO recognition, and it is considered a masterpiece of architecture and urban planning. Its northern half is a botanical garden, and at its centre lies a green space called Tierra de nadie, no man's land, belonging to no faculty at all.
Lomakuume
