Bolívar Square () in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

is one of the most important and recognized

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

n public spaces. It is located in the center of the first 25 blocks of Caracas when it was founded as ''"Santiago de León de Caracas"'' in 1567. It is in the historic center of the city in the Cathedral Parish of the Libertador Municipality. Bolívar Square is surrounded by important buildings such as

Caracas Cathedral The Caracas Cathedral or Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Anne is the seat of the Roman Catholic Metropolitan archdiocese of Caracas, located on the Plaza Bolívar in Caracas, Venezuela. Its chapel of the Holy Trinity is the burial site of the ...

, Sacred Museum, Archbishop's Palace, City Hall, Chapel of Santa Rosa de Lima, the Yellow House, the Main Theater and the building of the Government of the Capital District. The Federal Legislative Palace stands to the Southwest.

History

This place was intended as the Plaza Mayor of Caracas as soon as it was founded to serve as a trade center in town. For centuries, many modifications were made to the square, but one of the most significant was that of 1754 when Governor Felipe Ricardos ordered the construction of arcades to surround the square. The square was a usual place to fusillade and execute political enemies and conspirators of the Spanish colonial government. The execution of José María España was the best known. His body was quartered in the square in 1799. Additionally, this was the place where the Venezuelan people won the first step towards their independence when a popular rebellion rose against the Spanish crown on April 19, 1810. Although it is one of the most emblematic sites in the country, it is not the largest. The Plaza Bolívar of

Maracay Maracay () is a city in north-central Venezuela, near the Caribbean coast, and is the capital and most important city of the state of Aragua. Most of it falls under the jurisdiction of Girardot Municipality. The population of Maracay and its ...

, Aragua state, surpasses it in size, being the biggest in Venezuela and Latin America. After independence, the square was called ''Plaza de Armas'' (Arms Square) and ''Plaza del Mercado'' (Market Square), but when the body of

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

arrived in Caracas from

Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially the Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta (), is a port List of cities in Colombia, city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena Department and the fou ...

, it was formally named Plaza Bolívar in 1842. Nevertheless, that name was not properly used until 1874. General

Antonio Guzmán Blanco Antonio Leocadio Guzmán Blanco (28 February 1829 – 28 July 1899) was a Venezuelan military leader, statesman, diplomat and politician. He was the president of Venezuela for , from 1870 until 1877, from 1879 until 1884, and from 1886 until 1 ...

was put in charge of the presidency in 1865 by the then president Marshal

Juan Crisóstomo Falcón Juan Crisóstomo Falcón Zavarce (27 January 1820 – 29 April 1870) was the president of Venezuela from 1863 to 1868.''Demolición de los portales de la Plaza Mayor''
Historia de Venezuela en Imágenes and remove the market vendors in May. Projects to recover the place started five years later. A renewal process with a French style square started in 1872, including the presidential decision to erect a statue of Bolívar by the month of November. Also, it was decided to build planters, plant trees, recreate the four seasons in the corners: spring, summer, autumn and winter with four fountains of ornamental iron, install about 100 iron posts with different decorations and to border the square with metal balusters. The small stairs in the southeast of the square gave name to that corner known as ''Gradillas'', meaning small terrace corner.

Statue

The statue of Simón Bolívar was inaugurated on November 7, 1874 in the center of the square with the ringing of bells and 21 guns. This is a replica of the statue by Adamo Tadolini located at the Bolivar Square in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. Cast by the Von Müller Foundry, Bolívar rides a horse standing on its hind legs, supported by the two tiered pedestal. It measures 4 meters high (10 feet). The decision to install electricity in the square was made in 1894, and since then, there were no significant changes until 1967, when the original colourful floor was replaced by gray marble. Several terminal stations of the former Caracas tram worked in the corners of the square during 1908 and 1947. On February 21, 1959, the statue was designated as a memorial. In mid-2003, the Municipality of Libertador undertook a process of full restoration of the square, including gardens, fountains, flooring, lighting, among others.

Image gallery

File:PlazaBolivar2004-8.jpg, Bolívar Square of Caracas File:Fuente Plaza Bolívar Caracas.jpg, Fountain in Bolívar Square of Caracas File:Plaza Bolivar 1870s.gif, Bolívar Square soon after the inauguration of the statue

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolivar Square (Caracas) Simón Bolívar Buildings and structures in Caracas Monuments and memorials in Venezuela Squares in Venezuela

History

Statue

Image gallery

See also

References