![Parque del este caracas venezuela 2008](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Parque_del_este_caracas_venezuela_2008.JPG)
Parque del Este ("East Park"), renamed as officially Generalissimo
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 ...
Park by Chávez, in honor of the Venezuelan national hero, is a public recreation park located in the Sucre Municipality of Metropolitan
Caracas in
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
. Opened in 1961, it is one of the most important of the city, with an area of . The park was designed by
Roberto Burle Marx
Roberto Burle Marx (August 4, 1909 – June 4, 1994) was a Brazilian landscape architect (as well as a painter, print maker, ecologist, naturalist, artist and musician) whose designs of parks and gardens made him world-famous. He is accredited ...
and associates Fernando Tabora and John Stoddart.
The park is located just outside the station Miranda (formerly East Park) Line 1 of the Caracas Metro. East Park is managed and supervised by the National Parks Institute (INPARQUES), an agency under the Ministry of Popular Power for the Environment.
The park combines three differently designed areas: the first is an open grass field with a gentle undulating topography, the second is a densely forested landscape with meandering pathways, while the third is a series of paved gardens with tiled murals and water works.
History
![Patios en el sector Norte Parque Generalisimo Francisco de Miranda Caracas - Venezuela](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Patios_en_el_sector_Norte_Parque_Generalisimo_Francisco_de_Miranda_Caracas_-_Venezuela.jpg)
The park is located on part of the land of the ancient hacienda San Jose. (10 ° 29'38 "N - 66 ° 50'8" W) The hacienda still exists and is located between the existing park boundaries and the distributor Santa Cecilia, in front of the Caracas Museum of Transport.
The area was covered with forest vegetation composed primarily of old Bucares (''Erythrina spp.'') on which hung strands of Lagas Palo Beard (''Tillandsia usneoides''); in addition there were old coffee trees (''Coffea arabica'').
The park's inauguration took place under the government of President
Romulo Betancourt Romulo may refer to:
People with the given name Romulo Italian
* Rômulo (footballer, born 1987), Brazilian-born football player
* Romulo Cincinato (1502 – circa 1593), painter
Portuguese
* Rómulo (footballer, born 1976), football player
M ...
on January 19, 1961 under the May 1960 Decree No. 443 and was designed by
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
ian
landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx
Roberto Burle Marx (August 4, 1909 – June 4, 1994) was a Brazilian landscape architect (as well as a painter, print maker, ecologist, naturalist, artist and musician) whose designs of parks and gardens made him world-famous. He is accredited ...
and associates Fernando Tabora and John Stoddart.
When first opened the park was designed to receive about 6,000 visitors per month.
Official name
Park East over its history has had the following official names. At the time of its inauguration in 1961 was called Park "
Romulo Gallegos" and in 1983 was renamed Park "
Romulo Betancourt Romulo may refer to:
People with the given name Romulo Italian
* Rômulo (footballer, born 1987), Brazilian-born football player
* Romulo Cincinato (1502 – circa 1593), painter
Portuguese
* Rómulo (footballer, born 1976), football player
M ...
" a memorial to that character until 2002, when its name changed to present name Park Generalissimo "
Francisco Miranda" in honor of the Venezuelan national hero.
Humboldt Planetarium
Humboldt Planetarium started construction on 15 January 1959 under the direction of its designer the Venezuelan architect Carlos Guinand Sandoz (1917 - 1963) his inauguration took place on July 24, 1961, its facilities include a 20-meter dome and a Zeiss planetarium projector.
Its mission is to establish the knowledge in astronomy and related sciences, and to make them available for all public. The planetarium wants to promote formal education in all scientific levels.
Zoo
The park has a zoo with a wide variety of animals including jaguars, monkeys, squirrels, capybaras, ocelots, sloths, opossums, many kinds of birds: Caricare, many types of parrot, yellow-shouldered parrot, Tinamou, White heron, kind egret, Blue heron, gonzalito, blue and yellow macaw, scarlet macaw, Green macaw, North Guacharaca, Barn owls, helmeted curassow, king Zamuro (vulture), Red-billed toucan and reptiles including crocodiles and anacondas.
Caravel of Christopher Columbus
For many years one of the attractions of the Parque del Este was the
caravel
The caravel (Portuguese: , ) is a small maneuverable sailing ship used in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing win ...
of
Columbus, a replica of the ship known as the ''Nao Santa Maria'' was built in the city of
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, Spain, and was purchased by the Corporacion Venezolana Development and brought to the country in 1967. The Children's Foundation donated it to the Parque del Este on 12 October 1971; inside there were allegorical figures of Columbus and the crew that accompanied him on his travels, as well as weapons, shields, flags, clothing, tools, navigational devices and more.
Corvette Leander
The ''Nao Santa Maria'' operated until 2008 when by decree of the National Executive President
Hugo Chávez was dismantled to make way for a replica of the cruiser ''Leander'' and a museum in honor of Francisco de Miranda project which has brought inclusive of a legal dispute.
[El Universal: Hoy realizan audiencia de juicio contra el Proyecto Leander. CARACAS, martes 26 de abril, 2011. ]
Considerations aside, the ''Nao Santa Maria'' suffered damage caused by years of government neglect, so the replication status at the time of decommissioning was serious. One of the reasons which led to their change by the corvette was the need to implement the rehabilitation plan of the park that had been created to receive about 6,00 people a month, but already was welcoming about 270,000, with consequent damage as a result.
Gallery
Caracas 070.jpg, Boating lake
Parque del este caracas venezuela 2008 2.JPG, Lake plant
Corbeta Leander.jpg, Nao Santa Maria Replica
El Leander.jpg, Replica of the Leander in Parque del Este
References
Further reading
* Anita Berrizbeitia: ''Roberto Burle-Marx in Caracas. Parque del Este, 1956-1961'', University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2004
External links
Parque Generalísimo Francisco de Miranda página oficialFACEBOOK: Parque del Este - Caracas VenezuelaFACEBOOK: Parque del Este o Miranda (Antiguo Rómulo BetancourtGuía.con.ve: Los planos originales del Parque del Este incluían La Carlota
Videos
Parque del Este @ Caracas VenezuelaNutria Parque del Este CaracasMonos Parque del Este CaracasTerrario Parque del Este CaracasDocumental Planetario Humbold
{{coord, 10, 29, 48, N, 66, 50, 28, W, source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title
Geography of Caracas
Este
Tourist attractions in Caracas
Zoos in Caracas