World Facts Index > Venezuela > Caracas

Caracas has an excellent transport system: there is an intricate network of roads that cross the city from east to west and north to south; an exceptional underground transport system known as Metro de Caracas, which is considered one of the world's tidiest and most modern, with many stations all over the city; and bus routes known as Metrobus which connect the metro stations with some of the more remote neighbourhoods.

Some of the most important areas of Caracas are: El Silencio, Parque Central, Sabana Grande, El Rosal y Las Mercedes, Altamira y El Hatillo.

El Silencio (downtown): History at a glance! El Silencio proudly shows an important part of Venezuela from between the 17th and 18th centuries. Distinguished by beautiful architectural treasures, this part of Caracas is well worth a visit. Places such as Plaza Bolívar (Bolívar Square), a cathedral, dating from 1665, the la Casa Natal de Simón Bolívar -the house where Simón Bolívar, the Liberator, was born; the 17th century- la Casa Amarilla, once a prison but now used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the el Capitolio, seat of the legislative council; the el Teatro Nacional, (National Theatre), the 'Panteón Nacional', the resting place for prominent Venezuelans; the Santa Teresa Church; the el Palacio de Miraflores (the presidential palace) and the Arturo Michelena Museum, should not be forgotten.

Parque Central: Innovation, architecture, art and culture, and the country's two highest towers... If there is any place that shows how modern Caracas is, it is Parque Central. Located 1.5 km to the south-east of Plaza Bolívar, the park contains a concrete structure with two 53-floor octagonal towers and residential buildings. However, if it is not architecture and structural designs but culture, that takes your interest, you will be pleasantly surprised to find a great number of art centres here:

Complejo Cultural Teresa Carreño, -where the arts reach the utmost expression-, through theatre, dance, concerts, and ballet performances among many others. The most important museums of the city: Contemporary Art Museum, Children's Museum, Natural Science Museum, Museum of Fine Arts Museum, and the National Art Gallery. The immense Botanical Garden. The Ateneo, where you will find a cinema, theatres, an art gallery, a cafeteria and a bookstore.

History of Caracas

During a public ceremony, with the words: 'I take possession of these lands in the name of God, His Majesty the King and the Spanish nation,' Losada founded the famous city of Caracas. The new city was named Santiago de León de Caracas: Santiago - after the patron saint of Spain; León - after the governor of the day, and Caracas - after the Indian group which inhabited the coastal mountain range.

The city was elected as the administrative seat of the Province of Venezuela in 1577. It was the ideal place to establish the colony, owing to its proximity to the sea, abundant soil and defence from pirates, provided by the Avila. Thus it was turned into the principle seat of power.

The city's distribution was established in accordance with the Laws of Indias for the creation of the capitals of the New World, which adhered to regulations laid down by Spanish government. The specifications varied from the design of the houses, security, and accessibility and transport of water, to the dimensions used for squares and streets. A very typical way to name streets in the Caracas of Diego de Losada, was to refer to events that occurred in specific places. In fact, it is not so much the streets as the corners which are named in this way, for example, 'Peligro a Pele el Ojo' or 'Pinto to Miseria', among many others.

In 1812 the city was turned into ruins by a violent earthquake which catholic priests declared to be a punishment from God for the rebellion against the Spanish Crown. In the 19th century, under the leadership of Simon Bolívar, the city became the centre of the first revolt in the war for independence from Spain (1810-1821). Caracas became the capital of the Venezuelan Republic in 1829 and also one of the most prosperous Spanish colonial communities in South America.

In spite of its political achievements, Caracas continued to grow. During the mandate of Antonio Guzmán Blanco (who was obsessed with turning Caracas into a portrait of Paris), the city was made a great piece of urbanism: theatres, boulevards, monuments, churches, statues, hospitals, an aqueduct, a Federal Palace or Capitol were constructed. Years later, the start of the oil industry brought great transformations and saw the demographic concentration, social mobility and the great accomplishment of the public works. Thanks to the oil, Caracas became the dream of modernity. In the 1950s, the modernising vocation of dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez, and his ideological efficiency, converted Caracas in a city full of technological and aesthetic buildings with New, modern physical environments came about through the involvement of qualified craftsmen. All of this stemmed from the oil boom.

Nowadays, Caracas is a cosmopolitan city full of contrasts, customs and traditions, and with a population that has grown from 400,000, to more than four million. It has some of the the continent's best modern architecture and it is the cultural, artistic, educational, scientific and economic centre of Venezuela. Here you can find theatre, dance, museums, historic monuments, luxurious hotels, parks, movie theatres, the finest restaurants, and towards the north, stands the magnificent Avila, watching over the city.

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