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Museo de Ciudad Bolívar
The Casa del Correo del Orinoco – an example of impressive colonial architecture – houses the Museo de Ciudad Bolívar, a hodgepodge of modern art and historic objects. The most interesting artifact is the original printing press of the Correo del Orinoco, the new republic’s first n
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Panteón de Gómez
In typical dictator style, once Gómez had taken a firm grip of Venezuela, he set about building himself a grandiose mausoleum. Finished in 1919, this rather pretentious pantheon structure is topped by a white Moorish dome and houses the tomb of the general and members of his family
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La Estancia
This renovated fragment of a 220-year-old coffee hacienda houses a fine museum with rotating works by Venezuelan artists. Property of the Simón Bolívar family until 1895, it is now owned by Petróleos de Venezuela Sociedad Anónima (PDVSA), the national oil company. Free concerts are
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Museo Trapiche de los Clavo
The Museo Trapiche de los Clavo occupies the walled-in compound of a 19th-century hacienda. The core of the museum is the original trapiche (sugarcane mill) and exhibits related to traditional sugar production, but there’s more to see. One of the buildings features rotating exhibit
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Paseo Colón
The lively waterfront boulevard, Paseo Colón, is the place for a late afternoon or evening promenade. This seafront and beach area comes to life when a gentle breeze sweeps away the heat of the day and kitschy craft stalls open. Packed with hotels, restaurants, shops and tourist se
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Museo Arquidiocesano
Next to the cathedral, the Museo Arquidiocesano features a fine collection of religious art. Note the Ave María bell cast in AD 909, thought to be the world’s second-oldest surviving bell. It must have been brought from Spain by the missionaries and somehow ended up in the church o
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Campo Carabobo
For a taste of unadulterated Venezuelan patriotism, visit the Carabobo Battlefield , 32km southwest of Valencia. This is the site of the great battle fought on June 24, 1821, in which Bolívar’s troops decisively defeated the Spanish royalist army with help from the lancers of Gener
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Casa Piar
On the northern side of the plaza is the Casa Piar , where General Manuel Piar was kept prisoner in October 1817 before being positioned against the cathedral wall and executed by firing squad. Piar liberated the city from Spanish control, but rejected Bolívar’s authority and was s
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Museo de Bellas Artes
The Museum of Fine Arts is a beautiful museum with lots of breathing room housed in two buildings, a functional modern six-story building and a graceful building radiating from a neoclassical-style courtyard with a pond and weeping willow – both were designed by Venezuelan architec
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Parque Nacional Cerro El Copey
If you have your own wheels (or are willing to hire a taxi) and want to leave the crowds behind, head up into this fresh, hilly national park , southwest of La Asunción. The old road climbs up through cool, scented woodland, and near the top a side road branches off to the west and
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Complejo Turistico El Morro
This large, modern waterfront complex is one of the most ambitious urban projects ever to be carried out in the country - a 20th century Venezuelan Venice. Set on a coastal stretch of land, the complex is a model residential retreat for stressed-out urbanites, designed and built en
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Museo Diocesano Lucas Guillermo Castillo
For an insight into the colonial past, go to the Museo Diocesano Lucas Guillermo Castillo which is named after a local bishop. Accommodated in 15 rooms of a 17th-century Franciscan convent, the museum boasts an extensive collection of religious and secular art from the region and b
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Galería de Arte Nacional
Venezuela’s largest museum began construction in 1989 but was abandoned in the mid-’90s. Architect Carlos Gómez persevered though and construction resumed in 2006, with the gallery finally opened to the public in 2009. Its galleries house a selection of the 7000-piece collection th
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Museo Marino
This good Marine Museum is worth the trip across the island, especially for families. It has a shallow pool of safe-to-handle starfish, snails and other underwater fauna that will thrill the kids. (But don’t stick your hands in the outdoor turtle pool as there are a couple of small
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Concejo Municipal
Occupying half of Plaza Bolívar’s southern side, the city hall was erected by the Caracas bishops from 1641 to 1696 to house the Colegio Seminario de Santa Rosa de Lima. In 1725, the Real y Pontificia Universidad de Caracas, the province’s first university, was established here. Bo
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Casa de la Estrella
The sovereign state of Venezuela was born in this historic house on May 6, 1830, when Congress convened here and decreed secession from Gran Colombia. Erected as a hospital around 1710 (thus being the city’s oldest existing house), after independence the building was remodeled as a
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Cueva de Kavac
Near the purpose-built tourist village of Kavac, Cueva de Kavac is not a cave but a deep gorge with a waterfall plunging into it. Theres a safe, natural pool at the foot of the waterfall, which you can reach by swimming upstream inside the canyon. Its a pretty straightforward half-
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Jardín Botánico
Not far from the zoo is the Jardín Botánico . Inaugurated in 2000, the botanical garden is still young, and only a portion of the total 44 hectares is open to the public. Featuring a miniature cloud forest and more than 600 bromeliad species, it’s worth visiting, particularly on Sa
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Parque Nacional Médanos de Coro
Mesmerizing zebra stripes of sand shimmer in the breeze at the Parque Nacional Médanos de Coro, a spectacular desert landscape with sand dunes of 30m in height. Late afternoon is the best time to visit, when the sun is not so fierce. To get here, take the Carabobo bus from Calle 35
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Simón Bolívar Mausoleum
After a 2010 exhumation to confirm cause of Bolívars death, Chávez built his hero this grand new mausoleum, which opened in 2013. The US$140 million price tag and bold architecture – a gleaming white wave that mirrors the Ávila range or a gnarly 17-story skate ramp, depending on yo
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