The Plaza Bolívar is a square in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

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 ...

. It occupies a central site, and is used for public meetings. Its origin was in the colonial period, when the city was laid out on a

grid plan In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogon ...

(see note). Some buildings in the vicinity, such as the

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

date from the colonial period. The square was renamed after

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 ...

in the 19th century as a consequence of Venezuela's independence. The centrepiece of the square is a monumental column. Inaugurated in 1889, the column commemorates Bolívar and specifically his victory at the

battle of Carabobo The Battle of Carabobo, on 24 June 1821, was fought between independence fighters, led by Venezuelan General Simón Bolívar, and the Royalist forces, led by Spanish Field Marshal Miguel de la Torre. Bolívar's decisive victory at Carabobo led ...

in 1821.

History

In the 1880s, when Valencia's monument to Bolivar was constructed, Venezuela was an agricultural country. Despite having large amounts of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

, the country lacked industrial iron-making capacity.

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 ...

, three times president of Venezuela, implemented plans to modernize infrastructure. His projects, which have been described as

megalomania Megalomania is an obsession with power, wealth, fame, and a passion for grand schemes. Megalomania or megalomaniac may also refer to: Psychology * Grandiose delusions * Narcissistic personality disorder * Omnipotence (psychoanalysis), a stage ...

c, had a strong impact on Valencia, the second city of the Republic. He gave a concession to a British company to build a railway between Valencia and the coast at

Puerto Cabello Puerto Cabello () is a city on the north coast of Venezuela. It is located in Carabobo State, about 210 km west of Caracas. As of 2011, the city had a population of around 182,400. The city is home to the largest and busiest port in the count ...

. The Valencia terminus was at , 3 km from the city center, and plans were made for a tramway (initially horse-drawn) to the Plaza Bolívar. Guzman Blanco also approved a railway from Valencia to Caracas, the Great Venezuela Railway, built by a German company. The Valencia terminus was at San Blas, relatively near the city center. In 1887 the president decided to enhance the Plaza Bolívar of Valencia. The main feature is a marble column (called a ''monolito'' in Spanish) surmounted by a bronze statue of Bolívar. The monument was part of a national programme of promoting the memory of Bolívar begun in the 1870s,Nava, Julian. "The Illustrious American: The Development of Nationalism in Venezuela under Antonio Guzman Blanco."

The Hispanic American Historical Review The ''Hispanic American Historical Review'' is a quarterly, peer-reviewed, scholarly journal of Latin American history, the official publication of the Conference on Latin American History, the professional organization of Latin American histori ...

45, no. 4 (1965): 527-43. doi:10.2307/2511095. when, for example, Guzmán Blanco commissioned an

equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a ...

for the Plaza Bolivar of Caracas and adopted the bolívar as the currency of Venezuela. Work on the column was endorsed by General

Hermógenes López Hermógenes López (19 April 1830, in Naguanagua, Naguanagua, Carabobo – 17 December 1898, in Valencia, Carabobo) was a Venezuelan soldier, farmer and acting President of Venezuela, president of his country between 1887 and 1888, after the resi ...

, governor of

Carabobo State Carabobo State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela, located in the north of the country, about two hours by car from Caracas. The state capital city is Valencia, Venezuela, Valencia, which is also the country's main in ...

, who succeeded Guzmán Blanco as president of Venezuela during a transition period in 1887/1888. It was inaugurated under a third president,

Juan Pablo Rojas Paúl Juan Pablo Rojas Paúl (26 November 1826 – 22 July 1905) was the president of Venezuela from 1888 to 1890. He was the first civilian president who was elected by constitutional procedures in 50 years, and the only one who could finish his ...

on Carabobo Day 1889.

Design

The project was under the direction of the architect Antonio Malaussena (1853–1919). Malaussena later designed Valencia's municipal theatre (inaugurated in 1894) in Napoleon III style. The sculptor Rafael de la Cova, who studied in Europe in the 1870s, is credited with

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s depicting the

at the base of the monument.

Imagery

The statue depicts Bolivar pointing south-west towards the battlefield of Carabobo, his famous victory of 1821 in the

Venezuelan War of Independence The Venezuelan War of Independence (, 1810–1823) was one of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early nineteenth century, when independence movements in South America fought a civil war for secession and against unity of the S ...

. The pedestal of the monument is adorned with the

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...

of the State of Carabobo and three bas-reliefs depicting scenes from the battle: * Bolívar directing his troops * the

British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British Charitable organization, charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants. ...

(volunteer troops who fought under Bolivar) At the corners of the pedestal are

Andean condor The Andean condor (''Vultur gryphus'') is a South American New World vulture and is the only member of the genus ''Vultur''. It is found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America. With a maximum wingspan of and ...

Conservation

The monument is officially protected, but in 2018 ''

El Carabobeño ''El Carabobeño'' has been one of the most popular newspapers in the Central Region of Venezuela. The offices of the newspaper are located in Naguanagua, north of the city of Valencia in the state of Carabobo. Its main competitor in the area is ...

'' reported that ornamental metal-work had been removed from the structure.

Notes

:1. In 1573, King

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

compiled the

Laws of the Indies The Laws of the Indies () are the entire body of laws issued by the Spanish Crown in 1573 for the American and the Asian possessions of its empire. They regulated social, political, religious, and economic life in these areas. The laws are com ...

to guide the construction and administration of colonial communities. The Laws specified a square or rectangular central plaza with eight principal streets running from the plaza's corners. Hundreds of grid-plan communities throughout the Americas were established according to this pattern, echoing the practices of earlier Indian civilizations.

References

External links

Restoration project
Instituto de Desarrollo Urbano del Centro de Valencia {{DEFAULTSORT:Plaza Bolívar (Valencia) Buildings and structures in Valencia, Venezuela Monumental columns Monuments and memorials in Venezuela Monuments to Simón Bolívar Neoclassical architecture in Venezuela Statues of Simón Bolívar Outdoor sculptures in Venezuela Squares in Venezuela