Hello, Hivers!
How was your Wednesday walk? On this side of the world, this week is Holy Week. There are some celebrations and traditions that take place during these days. I'm not very religious, to be honest, but I would have liked to go to the city center to see some of the processions. For example, today, which is Holy Wednesday, the Procession of the Nazarene of San Pablo is celebrated. But since I am still resting my injured ankle, I decided not to make it up and stay at home. But I will share with you some more of my walks around downtown Caracas a few weeks ago.
Our walk today begins at one of the corners of the Plaza El Venezolano with the Av. Sur 1. On the corner, the building with a stone facade is the house where Simón Bolívar was born. We couldn't get closer since when we were passing by, a girl was making a video dancing flamenco for her social networks. And of course, many curious people stopped around to look.
The Plaza El Venezolano is one of the main squares in downtown Caracas along with the Plaza Bolívar. Its spaces are very well kept. And although in my opinion, it could have more green areas, it is a pleasant square. Especially in the late afternoon when you can sit and have a drink in some of the cafes that in recent years have opened on one side of the square.
At the beginning of the 19th century, a sundial was installed there.
In colonial times this square was called Plaza de San Jacinto.
In colonial times, the most important construction in the square was the Convent of San Jacinto. And in the square used to take place a market. In 1812, an earthquake destroyed the convent, and only a building of it remained standing.
La Torreta, as it is called, is still in the square. However, the building is currently out of use and can't be visited indoors.
We continued walking, this time along Av. Este 2, from another corner of the plaza. The girl dancing flamenco was still making videos and had changed location.
We continued walking in the direction of Plaza Bolívar.
On the next corner, called Gradillas, you can see in the background the yellow building of the Archbishop's Palace, which we also visited that day. And the brick-colored building you see in the foreground is the Casa del Vínculo y el Retorno.
This small house, which is now restored, has a lot of history. In the first place, it belonged to the godfather of the Liberator, Simon Bolivar. Source.
Simón Bolívar inherited the house and lived in it after his marriage to Maria Teresa del Toro.
Let's get in La Casa del Vínculo y del Retorno
Inside the house, there is no furniture, but it has been restored and you can see elements found during the restoration, stones, small objects, and several photographs of the restoration process of the building.
In a small room, there is information about the historical events that took place in the house in colonial times. In this house, the wife of the Liberator died. At some point, Francisco de Miranda stayed there, and the Sociedad Patriotica (Patriotic Board) met there for the first time during the independence struggle. Source.
You can see pieces of the original building on some of its walls.
And now let's keep walking a bit further
A view towards Av. Este 2 from Gradillas Corner.
On that day, we also went to visit the Sacred Museum and the Archbishop's Palace, I have already told you about those visits.
When we left the Plaza Bolivar there were many people with children because it was carnival and there were activities in the northern part of the square.
The Cathedral of Caracas was closed, so it will be another time to show you inside.
A view from Plaza Bolivar down the street from the Cathedral. And here ends our walk for today.
This is my post for this week's #wednesdaywalk challenge hosted by @tattoodjay in collaboration with #makemesmile hosted by @elizacheng.
Thank you for reading!
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