Caracas tourist information

Despite being the hub of activity and industry that it is today, Caracas has had a turbulent history with little glory. Founded in 1567 as Santiago de León de Caracas, it became Venezuela’s third and final capital ten years later. However, beset by pirate invasions, earthquakes and disease for the better part of the colonial era, the settlement expanded little and was of no particular historical significance. Only in the 1700s did Caracas began to show signs of economic and cultural progress, thanks mainly to the establishment of the country’s first university and the development of trade and commerce. Nevertheless, growth remained slow, and the city was not significantly modernized until the regime of Guzmán Blanco some 150 years later. The Guzmán era (1870 – 1888) saw the construction of some of the city's oldest monuments and buildings including the Capitol, Santa Teresa Church and the Municipal Theater, all of which were of considerable grandeur for the period. For this, Guzmán became known as El Modernizador. Nonetheless, it was due to the oil boom of the 1920s and 30s that Caracas sprung to life. Suddenly prosperous, the capital went under the knife. The remaining colonial architecture was pulled down and steel, concrete and glass towerblocks grew in their place. In 1936, the population barely exceeded 200,000; by 1971, post-war immigration caused it to exceed the 2 million mark. Little of the oil wealth, however, reached the people and most of the newcomers found themselves in the ever-growing shanty towns of the suburbs.

Today, Caracas is a sprawling urban jungle home to 5 million inhabitants (a quarter of the country’s total population), where impressive contemporary architecture is a stark contrast to the poor barrios of the suburbs, now spilling up the valley sides. Caracas, spreading for some 20km over the Guaira valley floor, is by far the most modern, metropolitan city on the continent and is the focal point of Venezuela’s trade and industry. The 360km² metropolitan district, constantly thronging with tireless Caraqueños is a hive of activity, with a wealth of shopping centers, hotels, restaurants, cafes, bars nightclubs, commercial plazas, cinemas, theatres and museums.

Caracas aerial map

Please click on any icon on the Caracas aerial tourist map, to find close by places, offering hotels and tourist information. You can zoom in and zoom out our touristical map as well as switch between satelite and map view of Caracas.