Caracas, Venezuela

When it comes to culture, art and recreation, Caracas is the place to be. Always full of life and with new things to discover each day, visitors to this Caribbean capital will never be bored.

Art

Owing to the city's cosmopolitan character, the Caracas art scene is fascinating and worthwhile. Every day you can find some sort of cultural activity and, particularly at the weekend, Caracas' talented artists show off their creativity, to the many Caraqueños and travelers who are out and about. There are always a number of cultural centers with something on. Some of the places where you can get a good idea of what Venezuelan art has to offer are the Complejo Cultural Teresa Carreño; the National Art Gallery; the Ateneo de Caracas, and the Quinta Anauco are some of the places that display a tremendous amount of Venezuelan art.

Museums

The museums of Caracas are distinguished by their beauty and magnificence, not only in architecture, but also the art exhibited inside. The Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas Sofía Imber, in Parque Central, is one example of such excellence. Another is the Fine Arts Museum, and there is the Children's Museum, which not only children, but also parents can enjoy. Remember, there is also the Natural Science Museum, the Audiovisual Museum, the Piano Museum and the Museo Bolíviariano. All together, Caracas has a total of around 50 art galleries and museums, and whatever your field of interest, you will find something to your liking. Other include the Caracas Museum, the Transport Museum and the Arturo Michelena Museum amongst many others.

Theater

When it comes to theaters there also is a great variety to choose from. Some open their doors from Wednesday to Sunday, while others are only opened on the weekends. One of the most famous theater groups is Sala Rajatabla, which stages its plays at the Ateneo de Caracas. Other theaters well worth a visit are the National Theater, the Foundación Celarg, El Teatro Municipal, the Tilingo Theater and the Teatro Jorge Palacios. At the end of April the Festival Internacional de Teatro is held. It takes place every two years and offers theater from around the world.

Music

The two best places to enjoy classical, lyric chants, chamber music, latin, jazz and Venezuelan music are the Complejo Cultural Teresa Carreño, the Centro de Cultura Corp Banca and the Aula Magna Concert Hall. Every month each presents a recital from symphonic orchestras and guests from abroad.

Nightclubs

The best nightclubs are to the east of the city. Clubs such as Tiffany´s, in Altamira are ideal for those who love house or techno music; Flanagan's Pub, in the Centro Comercial Paseo Las Mercedes, is the place to go for salsa, meringue and pop. The Fly Pub, in El Rosal, for rock or heavy metal lovers, they also have a lot of unknown rock bands. Primer Piso in Las Mercedes offers live salsa shows on "Latin Thursdays" and on Friday and Saturday, meringue, African rhythms and techno. However, this is not the only place where you will find salsa and meringue because it is played at most of the discos and nightclubs, such as Latino's, El Maní es así and Pal's, among others.

Cinema

Caracas has more than 40 cinemas. The most recommended are, of course, in the east of the city. For lovers of the alternative circuit there are a good number of art cinemas, for example, at the El Ateneo and the National Art Gallery.

"The city we have built is an eternal return to the future." José Ignacio Cabrujas, Venezuelan writer.

In 1567, and after many slips, the expedition commanded by Diego de Losada arrived at a beautiful valley surrounded by the waters of the river Guaire, and formed by the hill of El Avila, Parque Nacional, and parts of the coastal mountain range. Losada and his expedition of 136 men defeated fierce Indian resistance and established the settlement on July 25th.

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 defense from pirates, provided by the hill, Avila. Thus it was turned into the principle seat of power.

The city's distribution was established in accordance with the Laws of India 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 which translates to "Danger of getting hit in the eye."

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 center 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: theaters, boulevards, monuments, churches, statues, hospitals, an aqueduct, the Cajigal Observatory, and the 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 oil, Caracas became the dream of modernity. In the 1950s, the modernizing vocation of Dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez, and his ideological efficiency, converted Caracas into a city full of technological and aesthetic buildings, with new, modern physical environments brought 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 five million. It has some of the continent's finest modern architecture and it is the cultural, artistic, educational, scientific and economic center of Venezuela. Here you can find theater, dance, museums, historic monuments, luxurious hotels, parks, movie theaters, the finest restaurants, and toward the north stands the magnificent Avila, watching over the city.