Situated in a picturesque valley on the north coast, Venezuela's capital is a bustling metropolis of nearly 5 million inhabitants. Fast, progressive and cosmopolitan, the city is now highly 'Yankeefied,' retaining little of the character of its colonial roots. While it boasts some of the most impressive modern architecture in South America, Caracas is also home to a vast expanse of ranchos - sprawling slums of tin sheds and cardboard boxes covering the surrounding hills that are the product of the uncontrolled surge of postwar immigration.

Caracas was founded on the site of today’s historic quarter, but any residual colonial flavor has long been swamped by modern high-rise buildings. It’s a lively area, though, and boasts some important sites relating to Simon Bol?var. The focus of the old town is leafy Plaza Bol?var, with the inevitable monument to El Libertador at its heart. The plaza is a favorite playground for all manner of political visionaries and religious messiah-types, who deliver their impassioned speeches to an audience of nonplussed office workers each lunchtime.

The golden domes and neoclassical pediments of the National Capitol occupy an entire city block, southwest of Plaza Bol?var. The building was commissioned by Guzm?n Blanco in the 1870s, and is most famous for its Sal?n El?ptico, an oval hall with a mural-covered dome and walls lined with portraits of the country’s great and good. Visit on Independence Day and you’ll catch a glimpse of the original Act of Independence of 1811, installed inside a pedestal topped by a bust of Bol?var and displayed only on this most auspicious of public days.

Skyscrapers may loom overhead, but thankfully there’s more than a hint of original colonial flavor in this neatly proportioned reconstruction of the house where Sim?n Bol?var was born on July 24, 1783. Much of the original colonial interior has been replaced by monumental paintings of battle scenes, but more-personal relics can be seen in the nearby Museo Bolivariano. The museum’s exhibits include period weapons, banners and uniforms. Pride of place goes to the coffin in which Bol?var’s remains were brought from Colombia; his ashes now rest in the National Pantheon.

Bol?var’s funeral was held 12 years after his death at the Iglesia de San Francisco, just a few blocks west, and it was also here that he was proclaimed ‘El Libertador’ in 1813. The church dazzles the eye with its richly gilded baroque altarpieces, and still retains much of its colonial interior, despite being given a modernizing once-over by Guzm?n Blanco.

Venezuela’s most venerated building is five blocks north of Plaza Bol?var, 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 Guzm?n Blanco in 1874. The entire central nave is dedicated to Bol?var, with the altar’s place taken by the hero’s bronze sarcophagus, while lesser luminaries are relegated to the aisles. The national pantheon’s vault is covered with 1930s paintings depicting scenes from Bol?var’s life, and the huge crystal chandelier glittering overhead was installed in 1883 on the centennial of his birth. It’s worth hanging around to catch the ceremonial changing of the guard, held several times a day.

The surrounds of this museum are almost as enticing as its meticulously restored rooms filled with carefully selected works of art, furnishings and household odds and ends. The collection is housed in a beautiful colonial country mansion known as Quinta de Anauco, centered on a gorgeous patio and surrounded by gardens. The quinta was well outside the historic town when it was built back in 1797, but today it’s a green oasis in the inner suburb of San Bernardino. Head there late on a Sunday morning and you might catch a chamber music concert in the adjacent former stables.

Tag: Caracas