Concejo Municipal

Lonely Planet review

Occupying half of Plaza Bolívar's southern side, the city hall, the Concejo Municipal 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. Bolívar renamed it the Universidad Central de Venezuela, the moniker it keeps to this day, though it has moved to a vast campus outside the historic center.

Today the building is the seat of the Municipal Council, but part of it is open to the public.

Museo Santana, on the ground floor, has a unique 'doll's-house version' of the city's development, filled with elaborate miniature models of turn-of-the-19th-century Caracas. There are also grand historic paintings, banners and some fascinating ceiling murals; look for the one depicting Bolívar in the heavens.

The western side of the building houses the Capilla de Santa Rosa de Lima, where congress declared Venezuela's independence in 1811 (though it was another 10 years before this became a reality). The chapel has been restored with the decoration and furniture of the time.

While strolling around the courtyard, look for the reproduction of the very first Caracas map, drawn in 1578. It shows the old town when it stretched just two blocks from the plaza in each direction.