Ciudad Bolívar is the capital of
VenezuelaVenezuela , officially titled Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea...
's southeastern Bolivar State. It was founded with the name
Angostura in 1764, renamed in 1846, and, as of 2005, had an estimated population of 338,250.
The town lies at a narrowing of the Orinoco River and the original name was a contraction of the town's full descriptive name, 'Santo Tomé de Guayana de Angostura del Orinoco', "Saint Thomas of Guayana of the narrows of the Orinoco." The city lies at a spot where the Orinoco narrows to about 1 mile (1.6 km) in width, and is the site of the first bridge across the river. Another bridge has recently been constructed downstream at Puerto Ordaz.
Ciudad Bolivar's historic centre is in a good state of preservation, with original colonial buildings around the "Plaza Bolivar", including a cathedral. It today serves as an important port on the Orinoco River for the eastern regions of Venezuela. One of the Orinoco Basin's chief commercial centers, its main products include gold, iron ore, cattle, hides and rare woods. The town also gave its name to the Angostura tree (
Cusparia febrifuga) which grows in the area. The bark of the small shrub-like tree was traditionally used as a bitter tonic and fever reducer.
Angostura bittersAngostura bitters, often simply referred to as angostura, is a concentrated bitters for food and beverages made of water, alcohol, gentian root, and vegetable flavoring extracts by House of Angostura in the country of Trinidad and Tobago. Despite having an alcohol content of 44.7%, Angostura is not...
were invented there, though the company which produced them has since moved to
Trinidad and TobagoThe Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying northeast of the South American country of Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. It shares maritime boundaries with other nations including Barbados to the northeast, Guyana to the...
.
In 1973 a
Museum of Modern ArtIn Ciudad Bolívar, between the historical and the modern city, is located the Jesús Soto Museum of Modern Art...
opened. It was designed by
Carlos Raúl VillanuevaCarlos Raúl Villanueva was the most prominent Venezuelan architect of the 20th century and one of the great Modernists. He played a major role in the development and modernization of Caracas, Maracay and other cities across the country...
and was named after the city's famous son, the kinetic sculptor
Jesús Rafael SotoJesús Rafael Soto was a Venezuelan op and kinetic artist, a sculptor and a painter.He was born in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela. He began his artistic career as a boy painting cinema posters in his native city...
.
History
Ciudad Bolívar was originally founded, as
Santo Tomé de Guayana by
Antonio Berrío around 1595, at a different site from that which it occupies today. The city underwent changes throughout its history, until 1764, when the city transferred to the narrowest part of the
OrinocoThe Orinoco is one of the longest rivers in South America at 2,140 km, . Its drainage basin, sometimes called the Orinoquia covers 880,000 km², 76.3% in Venezuela with the rest in Colombia. The Orinoco and its tributaries are the major transportation system for eastern and interior Venezuela...
, assuming the name of
Santo Tomé de la Guayana de la Angostura del Orinoco. This move was undertaken with the aid of the Crown of Spain which financed the construction of the church and government buildings. The city received its Coat of arms in 1795, from King Carlos IV, with the inscription
No encontrarás otra de más variada riqueza. Due to its river-accessible location, in the period up to 1795 the town suffered attacks by pirates, in search of
El DoradoEl Dorado is a legend that began with the story of a South American tribal chief who covered himself with gold dust and would dive into a lake of pure mountain water....
.
In 1800, the town was visited by Alexander Humboldt, who described it as a calm city bordered by a mighty river, and one of the richest places that he had visited in the country, regarding natural resources. The narrowing of the Orinoco at this point increased its strategic importance making it one of the key sites in the struggle for independence. On April 19, 1810, against the opposition to the Supreme Assembly of
CaracasCaracas is the capital and largest city of Venezuela. It is located in the north of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range . The valley's temperatures are springlike. Terrain suitable for building lies between 760 and 910 m above...
, the authority of Angostura depended upon the outcome of a Provisional Committee, an event much influenced by Bishop José Ventura Cabello. Due to its geographic location the town represented a site which was difficult to conquer in the fight for independence. In 1817 after many attempts and battles, troops under the command of
Simón BolivarSimón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte Blanco, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a South American political leader...
and
Manuel PiarManuel Carlos Piar was General-in-Chief of the army fighting Spain during the Venezuelan War of Independence.- Heritage and early life :...
, managed to overcome the Spanish troops, installing the Supreme Headquarters of the Republic, on October 15, 1817, and incorporating the province of Guayana into
VenezuelaVenezuela , officially titled Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea...
. On the following day, Piar was executed in the
Plaza Mayor of the city, by order of a court martial.
On November 20, 1818, Bolivar presided a great civic-military assembly at which the declaration of the Republic of Venezuela was approved, against the possible intervention of the powers of the
Holy AllianceThe Holy Alliance was a coalition of Russia, Austria and Prussia created in 1815 at the behest of Tsar Alexander I of Russia, signed by the three powers in Paris on September 26 1815....
, which backed
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
. The city served as the headquarters for the national revolutionary government, fighting its
War of IndependenceThe Venezuelan War of Independence was the war fought for the emancipation of what is today Venezuela, between 1811 and 1823. It was part of a series of related emancipation movements throughout Spanish America, resulting from Napoleon's invasion of Spain...
against imperial Spain. On February 15, 1819, the
Congress of AngosturaThe Congress of Angostura was summoned by Simón Bolívar and took place in Angostura during the wars of Independence of Colombia and Venezuela. It met from February 15, 1819 to July 31, 1821, when the Congress of Cúcuta began its sessions....
declared
Simón BolívarSimón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte Blanco, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a South American political leader...
, the South American military leader and revolutionary, the President of Venezuela, and on December 17, 1819, declared the creation of the Republic of Gran Colombia, with Bolívar as president. Bolivar's famous address to the congress (see link), distinguished the Venezuelan character from the North American one, with its "weak and complicated system" of government, and emphasizing the Venezuelan revolutionaries' extraordinary and complicated position ("We are not Europeans; we are not Indians"), and advocated a parliamentary system based on the British model, with a hereditary senate. In 1846, the Congress of the Republic decreed that the city of Angostura, Capital of the Province of Guayana, would henceforth be called Ciudad Bolívar in honor of Simón Bolívar.
Law and government
Ciudad Bolívar has one municipality:
Heres Municipality, Venezuelan law specifies that municipal governments have four main functions: executive, legislative, comptroller, and planning. The executive function is managed by the
mayor"Mayor" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government....
, who is in charge of representing the municipality's administration. The legislative branch is represented by the Municipal Council, composed of seven councillors, charged with the deliberation of new decrees and local laws. The comptroller tasks are managed by the municipal
comptrollerA comptroller or controller is a person who supervises accounting and financial reporting within an organization. A controller is an accountant in a business who oversees accounting and the implementation and monitoring of internal controls...
's office, which oversees
accountancyAccountancy or accounting is the art of communicating financial information about a business entity to users such as shareholders and managers...
. Finally, planning is represented by the Local Public Planning Council, which manages development projects for the municipality.
Geography
Ciudad Bolívar is located at 43 meters of altitude on the south shore of the Orinoco river, in its narrower part, fluvial port of the east of
VenezuelaVenezuela , officially titled Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea...
. Its northern limit is the Orinoco river, in the south it borders
Raul Leoní municipality, to the east the municipalities
Caroní and
Piar, and to the west
Sucre municipality. Ciudad Bolívar is constituted by the parishes
Catedral, Agua Salada, Sabanita, Vista Hermosa, Marhuanta, José Antonio Páez, Orinoco, Panapana, and
Zea. Geologically, the city presents a great tectonic stability, because the ancient lands, which have survived a series of collapses, also present forms of level earth relief.
Vegetation
The
morichales are found at the shores of the rivers, the
chaparral. Species including the
carob treeThe carob tree , Ceratonia siliqua, is a species of flowering evergreen shrub or tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to the Mediterranean region. It is cultivated for its edible seed pods. Carobs are also known as St. John's bread because, according to tradition of some Christians, St...
, the
sarrapia, and the
merecure are prevalent, whereas the fauna is represented by such species as capibara,
morrocoyTurtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...
, herons, parrots,
lapa, iguanas, and others. A high percentage corresponds to fluvial species, like the fishes:
curbinata, dorado, lau- lau, morocoto, palometa, sapoara.
Climate
The temperature average varies between 26 and 30 °C. This climatic variety is represented by the periods of rain and drought, presented in high and variable forms, greater rainfall in regard to the high temperatures that cause a strong evaporation, arriving at 1022 mm annual. These high amounts favor the presence of rivers of great volume like the Orinoco, as well as others of minor volume:
Orocopiche, Marcela, and
La Candelaria, for example.
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
| Avg high °F |
87 |
89 |
91 |
92 |
91 |
88 |
88 |
89 |
89 |
90 |
89 |
87 |
89 |
| Avg low °F |
74 |
75 |
77 |
78 |
78 |
77 |
77 |
77 |
78 |
78 |
77 |
76 |
77 |
| Avg high °C |
30 |
31 |
32 |
33 |
32 |
31 |
31 |
31 |
31 |
32 |
31 |
30 |
31 |
| Avg low °C |
23 |
23 |
25 |
25 |
25 |
25 |
25 |
25 |
25 |
25 |
25 |
24 |
25 |
| Source: Weatherbase |
Economy and services
Ciudad Bolívar is a region dominated by
agricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
and
animal husbandryAnimal husbandry, also called animal science, stockbreeding or simple husbandry, is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock. It has been practiced for thousands of years, since the first domestication of animals....
on a small scale.
MaizeMaize , is a herbaceous plant domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents...
,
yuccaThe yuccas comprise the genus Yucca of 40-50 species of perennials, shrubs, and trees in the agave family Agavaceae, notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal clusters of white or whitish flowers...
,
mangoMangoes belong to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous species of tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is indigenous to the Indian Subcontinent...
,
yamYam is the common name for some species in the genus Dioscorea . These are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania...
, and
watermelonWatermelon refers to both fruit and plant of a vine-like herb originally from southern Africa and one of the most common types of melon...
are characteristic products cultivated in the zone. Cattle activity is represented by the bovine and
pigPigs are a genus of even-toed ungulates within the family Suidae. The name hog most commonly refers to the domestic pig in everyday parlance, but technically encompasses several distinct species, including the wild boar...
. The fluvial fishing is carried out in a small proportion, the
tourismTourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other...
has been receiving economic importance, which comes to reinforce the productive sector of the zone, among others economic activities of the city are, the commerce, services, transports, fast food chains, like McDonalds and
Wendy'sWendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers is an international chain of fast food restaurants founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. As of December 2006, Wendy's was the world's third largest hamburger fast food chain with approximately 6,700 locations following McDonald's 31,000...
, and distributors of national and international industries, such as:
Plumrose, Pepsi-Cola,
Coca-ColaCoca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants and vending machines internationally. The Coca-Cola Company claims that the beverage is sold in more than 200 countries...
,
Empresas PolarEmpresas Polar is a Venezuelan corporation, that started as a brewery founded in 1941 by Lorenzo Alejandro Mendoza Fleury in Antímano, Caracas...
,
Bloque de prensa de Armas, as well as the Supermarket chains
Central Madeirense and
Koma, among others. Ciudad Bolívar is the seat of the state government of the
Bolívar stateBolivar State , is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. The state capital city is Ciudad Bolívar. Bolivar State covers a total surface area of 238,000 km² and in 2007 had an estimated population of 1,534,800....
.
The
Angostura BridgeAngostura Bridge is a suspension bridge that spans the Orinoco River at Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela. Built in 1967, it has a main span of 712 meters. Until the opening of the Second Orinoco crossing 100 km further downstream near Ciudad Guayana on 13 November 2006 it was the only bridge across...
has great importance as a communicational infrastructure, since it unites this locality with the rest of
VenezuelaVenezuela , officially titled Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea...
. Also important is the
freewayA freeway is a type of road designed for safer high-speed operation of motor vehicles through the elimination of at-grade intersections. This is accomplished by preventing access to and from adjacent properties and eliminating all cross traffic through the use of grade separations and...
that connects Ciudad Bolívar with
Ciudad GuayanaCiudad Guayana is a city in Bolívar State, Venezuela. It lies south of the Orinoco, where the river is joined by the Caroní River. The city, officially founded in 1961, is actually composed of the old town of San Félix at the east and the new town of Puerto Ordaz at the west, which lie either...
. Another representative infrastructure is the
General José Tomás de Heres airport. The city hosts hotels such as
Laja Real, La Cumbre, El Bolívar Gran Hotel, El Salto Angel, Posada Amor Patrio, Posada Angostura, and others. The hospital infrastructure is represented among others by: Thorax Hospital,
Ruiz y Páez Hospital, Red Cross.
Centers of education include the universities
Universidad Nacional Experimental Simón Rodríguez, Universidad de Oriente,
Universidad Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho, Universidad Nacional Abierta, etc, and institutes of primary and secondary education. Nevertheless, Ciudad Bolívar lacks the required infrastructure to obtain true economic and social progress, because the competent organizations have not developed a work plan that really responds to the exigency of the city, as capital and seat of the political power of the
Bolívar stateBolivar State , is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. The state capital city is Ciudad Bolívar. Bolivar State covers a total surface area of 238,000 km² and in 2007 had an estimated population of 1,534,800....
. Among the services of the locality are
drinking waterDrinking water or potable water is water of sufficiently high quality that it can be consumed or used without risk of immediate or long term harm...
,
electricityElectricity is a general term that encompasses a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge...
,
telephoneThe telephone is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sound, most commonly the human voice. It is one of the most common household appliances in the developed world, and has long been considered indispensable to business, industry and government...
,
transportTransport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one location to another. Transport is performed by modes, such as air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline and space...
,
mailMail, or post, is a method for transmitting information and tangible objects, wherein written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal...
,
InternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standardized Internet Protocol Suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
,
bankA bank is a financial institution licensed by a government. Its primary activities include borrowing and lending money.Many other financial activities were allowed over time. For example banks are important players in financial markets and offer financial services such as investment funds...
s, and malls, among others, that influence the profit of the
economic developmentEconomic development is the increase in the standard of living of a nation's population associated with sustained growth from a simple, low-income economy to a modern, high-income economy...
, and the well-being of the population.
The communications are represented by the roads and the media, that facilitate commerce and the relations between the people. Examples of these mass media are television (
Bolivar Vision, TV Río), radio, Internet, and newspapers (
El Bolivarense, El Expreso, El Progreso, El Luchador), among others. The most important routes of transport are terrestrial, as much extraurban and interurban, covering national routes, and the fluvial, represented mainly by boats that cover the passage from Ciudad Bolívar to
Soledad, as well as other small towns.
Culture
Ciudad Bolívar's historical zone is a frequently visited tourist attraction featuring houses and public buildings that date from the colonial period. The
Jesús Soto Museum of Modern ArtIn Ciudad Bolívar, between the historical and the modern city, is located the Jesús Soto Museum of Modern Art...
, named after the city's most famous son, sculptor and painter
Jesús Rafael SotoJesús Rafael Soto was a Venezuelan op and kinetic artist, a sculptor and a painter.He was born in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela. He began his artistic career as a boy painting cinema posters in his native city...
, features a collection of modern works by Venezuelan and international artists. In musical matters, Ciudad Bolívar is the place of birth of artists like:
Cheo HurtadoCheo Hurtado is a Venezuelan musician, one of the most celebrated virtuoso performers of the cuatro, whose extremely agile strumming technique is currently believed to be unsurpassed. He is also a mandolin, bandola and guitar executant.-Biography:...
,
Iván Pérez RossiIván Pérez Rossi is a singer and musician born in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela, August 3, 1943. His musical career has been intimately tied to the life of the musical group Serenata Guayanesa, of which has been a charter member since 1971. Within this group, has evolved not only as a singer and...
,
Antonio LauroAntonio Lauro was a Venezuelan musician, considered to be one of the foremost South American composers for the Guitar in the 20th century.- Biography :Antonio Lauro was born in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela...
(guitarist, considered to be one of the foremost South American composers of the 20th century), also is the seat of groupings like
Serenata GuayanesaSerenata Guayanesa is a vocal and instrumental quartet playing typical Venezuelan folk music.-Origins of the group:In June 1971, the Bolivar state native singers and musicians Mauricio Castro Rodríguez , Hernán Gamboa , Iván Pérez Rossi and César Pérez Rossi who were already...
, Ensamble Orinoco, and the Cestari family composed of Italian-
VenezuelaVenezuela , officially titled Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea...
n singers and musicians. In events and fairs, the city lodges every year since 1971, the
Orinoco Fair, this is a touristic event, that is part of a tribute to the Orinoco River. Between the folkloric musical sorts present in the city, we can mention:
- Waltz
- History :Between the hall dances that arrived to Venezuela during the nineteenth century, waltz has been the one of greater root and dispersion. Waltz consists of a musical expression derived from an Austrian popular dance, the ländler...
- Galerón
The Galerón is the genre from the celebration of the velorios de cruz at the east of Venezuela, where it is alternated with fulías. Although the day of the velorios de cruz, are properly on May 3, the velorios are celebrated throughout all that month.Of clear Hispanic origin, the Galerón comprises...
- Aguinaldo
Aguinaldo is a folk genre of Christmas music, which originates from Puerto Rico and is based on an archaic form of Spanish christmas carol. Aguinaldo music is often performed by what is called parrandas—a casual group of people, often family or friends, who go from house to house.- Venezuelan...
- Merengue
The word merengue designates a musical form extended through all the Caribbean. The first occurrences of merengue in print in Venezuela are from scores of “dance merengue” of the second-half of the 19th century . As a dance craze, merengue acquired popularity in Caracas during the 1920s. It is...
- Joropo guayanés
The Joropo is a musical style resembling the waltz, and an accompanying dance, having African and European influences. It is a fundamental genre belonging to Venezuelan and Colombian folklore, specifically to its typical music or música criolla...
The city is also home to an array of immigrants from but not limited to:
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
,
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
, the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
,
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, and
Latin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish, Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,501 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n countries.
Gastronomy
One of the traditions of the region's cuisine are the desserts and preserves made of cashew nuts, which can also be tasted alone or roasted with salt. The
cassavaCassava is a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America that is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...
bread prepared in the area is also famous as well as several meals made of tortoise such as the
Carapacho de Morrocoy Guayanés (baked tortoise in its shell). A culinary delight with alleged aphrodisiac power is the
Catara sauce, which is a spicy sauce made of cassava juice or
yare, species, and the so called big-butt ant.
Plaza Bolívar
Like
Plaza de Armas or
Plaza Mayor, this seat served at the time of the colonial period as a common center for political concentrations, and public market. The history of the statue of
Simón BolivarSimón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte Blanco, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a South American political leader...
goes back to October 26, 1867, when the President of the State, Juan Bautista Dalla Costa, named a committee to erect a statue of
El Libertador in the space of the
Plaza Mayor. The plan for the new urban space was in charge of Régulo Machado, who the day of Saint Simon, on October 28, 1869, inaugurated the first pedestrian statue of Bolívar, and five stone statues, in representation of the Republics released by
El Libertador in the independence wars in South America.
San Isidro Museum
This construction was the principal house of the
HaciendaHacienda is a Spanish word for an estate. Some haciendas were plantations, mines, or even business factories. Many haciendas combined these productive activities. The hacienda system of Argentina, parts of Brazil, Chile, Mexico and New Granada was a system of large land-holdings that were an end in...
of José Luis Cornieles, who was a member of the first Congress of Angostura, and friend of
Simón BolivarSimón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte Blanco, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a South American political leader...
. Bolívar lodged in this house during his stay in the city, and it was the place where he wrote his famous message to the Congress of Angostura in 1819. The house dates from the XVIII century, and conserves a noticeably colonial style. It has a chapel, in which is venerated the image of
Isidore the LaborerIsidore the Laborer, also known as Isidore the Farmer, , was a Spanish day laborer known for his goodness toward the poor and animals. He is the Catholic patron saint of farmers and of Madrid and of La Ceiba, Honduras....
, that was recovered in 1966. It has two centennial trees, a
KapokKapok is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae , native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and to tropical west Africa. The word is also used for the fibre obtained from its seed pods...
and a
TamarindThe Tamarind is a tree in the family Fabaceae. The genus Tamarindus is monotypic .- Origin :...
. One says that in the Tamarind, Simón Bolívar used to tie his horse, when he visited the place. It was declared a National Historical Monument on March 21, 1968.
Parochial House
To determine with exactitude the date of construction of this building is very difficult; nevertheless, its proximity with the
Plaza Bolívar suggests that it had to be one of the first in the city. Before being Parochial House and office of the General Vicar of the
DioceseIn some forms of Christianity, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a bishop. It is also referred to as a bishopric or Episcopal Area or episcopal see, though strictly the term episcopal see refers to the domain of ecclesiastical authority officially held by the bishop,...
. In its rooms are kept compilations of religious pieces of great value, between which appear wood statues, and images like the one of
Nuestra Señora de Las Nieves, patron saint of the city.
House of the Congress of Angostura
This building, also known like
House of Governors, was constructed by orders of Manuel Centurión in 1766, as the seat of a school (
Escuela de latín y primeras letra). In addition, it served as residence for the governors of the province. On February 15, 1817, the main hall was witness of the installation of the Congress of Angostura. Also, the last 37 numbers of the newspaper
Correo del OrinocoCorreo del Orinoco was a Venezuelan newspaper run by Simón Bolívar ....
were printed there. One says that
Simón BolívarSimón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte Blanco, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a South American political leader...
was present at the execution of
Manuel PiarManuel Carlos Piar was General-in-Chief of the army fighting Spain during the Venezuelan War of Independence.- Heritage and early life :...
, from a balconie of the house. From 1829, it became an Education center and public library; in 1840 it was the seat of the
Guayana School, and in 1883 the president
Antonio Guzmán BlancoAntonio Guzmán Blanco was President of Venezuela in three separate terms, from 1870–1877, from 1879–1884, and from 1886–1887....
, classified it as an institute of first category. Nowadays it is a museum and the seat of the
Historical Files of Guayana.
Ciudad Bolívar Cathedral
This church of colonial style is located to the northeast of the
Plaza Bolívar. It is dedicated to
Nuestra Señora de Las Nieves, patron saint of the city, whose celebration is on August 5. The central Nave measures 26 Mts, and the tower 44 Mts, which has in its interior thirteen bells and a giant clock, that each quarter of hour plays the Bolívar state anthem. The original project its from 1771, and its conclusion and inauguration from 1840, was the Monsignor Mariano de Talavera y Garcés, fourth bishop of Guayana, that started up the completion of the cathedral. The original planes of the engineer Bartolomé de Amphoux, that were lost, were found in the 1970s by the architect Graziano Gasparini in the
Archivo General de IndiasThe Archivo General de Indias , housed in Seville in the ancient merchants' exchange, the Casa Lonja de Mercaderes, is the document repository of extremely valuable archival documents illustrating the history of the Spanish Empire in the Americas and the Philippines...
, thanks to which the structure was recovered. On February 15, 1979, under the government of
Carlos Andrés PérezCarlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez , best known as CAP and often referred to as "El Gocho" , was President of Venezuela from 1974 to 1979 and again from 1989 to 1993. His first presidency was well-known as the Saudi Venezuela due to its economic and social prosperity thanks to enormous income from...
, the building was reinaugurated. In a wall of the Cathedral, near the
Plaza Bolívar, was executed
Manuel PiarManuel Carlos Piar was General-in-Chief of the army fighting Spain during the Venezuelan War of Independence.- Heritage and early life :...
, on October 16, 1817, after a sentence of the court martial, who found him culprit of conspiracy, crime and treason.
Old prison
By the location of this construction of the end of the XVIII century, it was created like a dependency of the
San Gabriel Fort, which was located opposite to it. It was the residence of several governors and command of the police. In addition, it worked like a public jail until 1951, when the jail of
Vista Hermosa was built. This building of colonial lines erected on a small plateau, and constructed like a stone fort, presents a character of defense and force. At the moment, and after its restoration, it lodges the General Archives of Guayana and the Institute of History of the Bolivar State, the writer Rufino Blanco Fombona, and the poet and revolutionary Alfredo Arvelo Larriva were imprisoned there in 1905.
Government Palace
This building dates from the XIX century, specifically during the government of Governor Juan Bautista Dalla Costa. Peculiarly, it was constructed in the same terrains, that the Accountant's office of the Real Property occupied in the days of the colony. The building was inaugurated on June 19, 1867, and was originally designed for a single plant, but later, at the beginning of the XX century, was added its high part, structure that conserves at the moment. Nowadays it is the seat of the Bolívar state government.
Piar house
In front of the
Plaza Bolívar of Ciudad Bolívar, is the house that served like prison to
Manuel PiarManuel Carlos Piar was General-in-Chief of the army fighting Spain during the Venezuelan War of Independence.- Heritage and early life :...
, that was
GeneralA general officer is an officer of high military rank. The term or equivalent is used by nearly every country in the world. General can be used as a generic term for all grades of general officer, or it can specifically refer to a single rank that is simply called general.-All general officer...
-in-Chief of the
armyAn army An army An army (from Latin armata "armed (things)" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based Military of a nation. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
fighting
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
during the
Venezuelan War of IndependenceThe Venezuelan War of Independence was the war fought for the emancipation of what is today Venezuela, between 1811 and 1823. It was part of a series of related emancipation movements throughout Spanish America, resulting from Napoleon's invasion of Spain...
, and Liberator of Guayana. At this time, following his military victories, Piar came into conflict with his higher-ranking white
criolloThe term Creole and its cognates in other languages — such as crioulo, criollo, créole, kriolu, criol, kreyol, kriulo, kriol, krio, kreol, etc. — have been applied to people in different countries and epochs, with rather different meanings...
superiors, including
Simón BolívarSimón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte Blanco, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a South American political leader...
. This friction eventually resulted in Bolívar stripping Piar of direct troop command. Piar then asked for leave, which was granted to him on June 1817. In what is one of the independence struggle's darkest episodes, Bolívar ordered Piar arrested and tried for desertion, insubordination and conspiring against the government. Seeing as Piar was the only one charged and arrested in this episode, it is generally agreed that Bolívar simply needed to make an example of a single general from among the military leadership. Piar was the unlucky chosen one. He was arrested on September 28, 1817 and was judged by a court martial which found him guilty on all charges; and on October 15 sentenced him to death. On that same day Simón Bolívar, as Supreme Commander, confirmed the sentence. The following day Manuel Piar, General-in-Chief, was executed against the wall of the cathedral, by a firing squad. In a puzzling moment, Bolívar, who had decided against witnessing the execution, heard the shots from inside his nearby office and said in tears
"He derramado mi sangre" (I have spilled my blood).
Jesús Soto Museum of Modern Art
In Ciudad Bolívar, between the historical and the modern city, is located the
Jesús Soto Museum of Modern Art (
Museo de Arte Moderno Jesús Soto). Museum created by Venezuelan artist Jesús Soto, to promote the art and the culture on his native land, taking to one of the cities of greater tradition in
VenezuelaVenezuela , officially titled Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea...
, a museum of international scenes, which does not have anything to envy to museums of great cosmopolitan cities. In this, the spectator is an important part of the artistic proposals, can be found works where the movement and dynamics, will captivate the people. Among them, the Soto's
Penetrable, in which different sensations that stimulate the senses, will be experienced. In the garden of sculptures different works can be enjoyed, that combined with the landscaping, and the architectonic proposal, enriches the experience to the visitors.
Universidad de Oriente
(
Universidad de Oriente) or
UDO, is a public institution located in Ciudad Bolívar, and the east of
VenezuelaVenezuela , officially titled Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea...
. On January 8, 1962 initiated its academic activities with the Schools of
MedicineMedicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
and
GeologyGeology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structure, physical properties, dynamics, and history of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed...
. On August, 1968, the basic courses are created, and on January, 1969, the academic and administrative activities begin. At the present time, this university nucleus account with the basic courses, the
MedicineMedicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
School, the
Earth scienceEarth science , is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth. It is arguably a special case in planetary science, the Earth being the only known life-bearing planet...
School, and dictates nine careers.
Universidad Nacional Experimental de Guayana
(
Universidad Nacional Experimental de Guayana) or
UNEG, is a public institution located in Ciudad Bolívar,
VenezuelaVenezuela , officially titled Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea...
, created on March 9, 1982. This university was conceived like a center of superior education of regional character. The original name project of the university was,
Universidad del Sur, that was changed by the present one.
Other universities
Transportation
- Buses are the main means of mass transportation, this system runs a variety of bus types, operated by several companies on normal streets and avenues:
- Bus; large buses.
- Buseta; medium size buses.
- Microbus or Colectivo; vans or minivans.
- Perrera; a modified pick-up
A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area which is almost always separated from the cab to allow for chassis flex when carrying or pulling heavy loads....
, for mass transportation.
- José Tomás de Heres Airport; is located in the center of the city.
Main avenues
- Paseo Orinoco
- Libertador avenue
- Paseo Meneses
- Germania avenue
- Jesús Soto avenue
- Táchira avenue
- Andrés Bello avenue
- Upata avenue
- Bolívar avenue
- 5 de julio avenue
- 17 de diciembre avenue
- Andrés Eloy Blanco avenue
- Sucre avenue
- República avenue
- Paseo Simón Bolívar
- Rotaria avenue
- Perimetral avenue
- Aeropuerto avenue
- Nueva Granada avenue
- España avenue
- Colón street
See also
- Venezuela
Venezuela , officially titled Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea...
- Bolívar state
Bolivar State , is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. The state capital city is Ciudad Bolívar. Bolivar State covers a total surface area of 238,000 km² and in 2007 had an estimated population of 1,534,800....
- List of cities in Venezuela
External links