Altamira is a neighborhood located in the
Chacao municipality of Caracas, Venezuela. It has its own
Metro Station
A metro station or subway station is a station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the system in the ...
, 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
Sebastián Francisco de Miranda y Rodríguez de Espinoza (28 March 1750 – 14 July 1816), commonly known as Francisco de Miranda (), was a Venezuelan military leader and revolutionary. Although his own plans for the independence of the Spani ...
avenue (a major avenue in Caracas) and the Distibuidor Altamira (a congested
highway exit
In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...
) are both located in Altamira. This neighborhood borders
El Ávila National Park
The Ávila National Park, officially known as Waraira Repano National Park for its name indigenous Cariban name, protects part of the Cordillera de la Costa Central mountain range, in the coastal region of central-northern Venezuela. The area's ...
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
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...
or approximately 1.61
square kilometers.
History
250px, left, Plaza Francia
Altamira was created on June 30, 1577, by Juan Andres Varela. This neighborhood is currently home to
Plaza Francia (though it is commonly called Plaza Altamira), a well-known landmark which includes an
obelisk
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...
and a fountain. This square and most of Altamira was built by
Luis Roche, who owned most of the area in 1943. In 1944, Luis Roche ordered -with permission of the government- the construction of many avenues and the
square
In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...
. Roche wanted the square's obelisk to be "higher than the
Cathedral of Caracas". The square was completed by Martin Hermanos co on August 11, 1945, and was originally called Plaza Altamira. On January 17, 1967, the Venezuelan and
French governments agreed to rename Plaza Altamira to Plaza Francia (France Square in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
). The French government built a Plaza Venezuela in their country in 1975.
In 1948, Luis Roche began exploring the possibility of building a tunnel between Altamira and the
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...
. He contacted the people who were in charge of the construction of the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
Tunnels, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. This project was scrapped due to its high cost as it required three tunnels, two of them used exclusively for ventilation. If built, the tunnel would have been about eight kilometers long. Luis Roche was later assigned Venezuelan
Ambassador to
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
.
Today, Altamira has its own
Metro Station
A metro station or subway station is a station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the system in the ...
, many hotels and restaurants, and is an important business center in Caracas. Avenida Francisco de Miranda (a major avenue in Caracas) and the Distribuidor Altamira (a congested highway exit) are both located in Altamira.
Altamira was the scene of a mass shooting on December 6, 2002.
João de Gouveia
João is the Portuguese equivalent of the given name John. The diminutive is Joãozinho and the feminine is Joana. It is widespread in Portuguese-speaking countries. Notable people with the name are enumerated in the sections below.
Kings
* ...
murdered three citizens and injured 19 participating in a demonstration in Plaza Altamira against Venezuelan president
Hugo Chávez.
The shooting occurred during the
2002-2003 general strike. On August 16, 2004, Plaza Francia was the scene of another incident. A group of opposition activists, protesting what they considered to be fraudulent electoral results of the
Presidential Recall Referendum, were met with a hail of bullets from a group of Pro-Government supporters.
One person was killed and nine wounded.
Economy
The headquarters of
Estelar Airlines is in Altamira.
Education
is in Altamira.
Culture
A world-renowned branch of the internationally acclaimed worldwide organization
Tomchei Tmimim
Tomchei Tmimim ( he, תומכי תמימים, "supporters of the complete-wholesome ones") is the central Yeshiva (Talmudical academy) of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. Founded in 1897 in the town of Lubavitch by Rabbi Sholom Do ...
Yeshiva Gedola is located in Altamira.
The hub of the bajurim.
See also
*
1967 Caracas earthquake
The 1967 Caracas earthquake occurred in Caracas, Venezuela, and La Guaira, Vargas on 29 July at 8:00 p.m ( UTC−04:00 at that time). Its epicenter took place in the litoral central (20 km from Caracas) and lasted 35 seconds. It heavily ...
*
Caracas
*
El Rosal, Caracas
*
El Hatillo
*
Sabana Grande (Caracas)
*
Las Mercedes, Caracas
Las Mercedes is the largest district for shopping and leisure in Latin America. It is located at the Baruta Municipality, Miranda (state), Caracas. It has an estimated area of 93 hectares (0.93 square kilometers).
It contains discos and pubs. It ...
*
Chacao Municipality
*
Baruta Municipality
Baruta (pop. 317,288) is a municipality within the Metropolitan District of Caracas in Venezuela.
Geography
Baruta is located geographically in the South-East section of the city. Its western limit is the '' Los Chaguaramos'' neighborhood ...
*
Miranda
References
External links
Chacao.gov.ve: Altamira y el ObeliscoArchivo.eluniversal.com (2004)
{{Caracas landmarks
Neighbourhoods of Caracas