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Museo Santana
Museo Santana, inside the Concejo Municipal, has a unique 'doll's-house version' of the city's development, filled with elaborate miniature models of turn-of-the-19th-century Caracas. All the models were created by local artist, Raúl Santana. There are also grand historic paintings, banners and some fascinating ceiling murals; look for the one depicting Bolívar in the heavens.
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Museum of Colonial Art & Quinta de Anauco
The Museum of Colonial Art & Quinta de Anauco is housed in an elegant country mansion known as Quinta de Anauco, laid out around a charming patio and enclosed by lush, shady gardens. A ball was staged here in honor of Simón Bolívar's very last night in Caracas: he was never to return alive.
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Museum of Contemporary Art
Occupying the eastern end of the Parque Central complex, the Museum of Contemporary Art is by far the best in the country, if not the continent. In a dozen halls on five levels, you'll find big, bold and sometimes shocking works by many prominent Venezuelan artists, including Jesús Soto, famous for his kinetic pieces.
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National Art Gallery
The National Art Gallery has a vast collection embracing five centuries of Venezuelan artistic expression. Anything from pre-Hispanic art to mind-boggling modern kinetic pieces may be showcased here in temporary exhibitions. Designed in 1935 by Venezuelan architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva, the graceful building radiates from a neoclassical-style courtyard with a pond and weeping willow. The gallery also houses Caracas' leading art cinema.
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National Capitol
As part of his mad dash toward modernization in the 1870s, Guzmán Blanco commissioned an ambitious, neoclassical seat of congress, the National Capitol , to occupy the entire block just southwest of Plaza Bolívar. The two-building complex was erected on the site of a convent, whose occupants were promptly expelled by the dictator and their convent razed.
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National Pantheon
The entire central nave of the imposing National Pantheon is dedicated to national hero Simón Bolívar, underlining the almost saint-like reverence with which he is held in Venezuela. His bronze sarcophagus is placed in the chancel, and the path to reach his tomb is covered by a ceiling filled with paintings of Bolívar's life, all done by Tito Salas in the 1930s.
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Parque del Este
Any given Sunday, there's plenty of activity within the extensive Parque del Este, from children playing hide-and-seek among the rock gardens, to soccer games, religious groups, martial arts classes and a profusion of lycra-clad bodies jogging while chatting into cell phones. Situated on a portion of a former coffee plantation, the 82-hectare park is the largest in Caracas, and a stroll through its expanses is a botanical odyssey, with many plants and trees labeled. You can visit the snake house, aviary and cactus garden, and on weekends enjoy astral displays in the Planetario Humboldt.
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Parque Zoológico de Caricuao
Caracas' main zoo, Parque Zoológico de Caricuao, is situated in the beautifully kept grounds of another old coffee plantation. It has a good selection of native birds, reptiles and mammals, plus some imported felines and elephants. Most animals enjoy a fair degree of freedom in their enclosures, and some birds, including peacocks, ibis, flamingos and macaws, are almost free. Monkeys also mingle with the visitors, so keep an eye on your lunch if you don't want it disappearing up the nearest tree.
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People Power History Museum
Installed on the ground level of the mayor's office, which takes up the north side of the Plaza Bolívar, the People Power History Museum is 'devoted to the revolutionary process initiated by Hugo Chávez Frias.' It aims to highlight the cultural heritage of the Venezuelan people through exhibitions on the progress of social movements, achievements of revolutionary heroes and alleged crimes of US imperialism.
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Plaza Bolívar
This leafy square is the nucleus of the old town. It's always alive with huddled groups of caraqueños engaged in conversation and children feeding freshly popped corn to the black squirrels in the trees, while vendors hawk lemonade and cepilladas (shaved ices) on the sidelines, the whole scene shaded by African tulip trees and jacarandas. Golden cherubs gather round the fountains at each corner of the square.
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Plaza Bolívar Parish Church
The Plaza Bolívar Parish Church is worth a look as it has a particularly well-preserved exterior, though its interior was radically (and rather controversially) modernized.
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Teatro Municipal
A striking example of General Guzmán Blanco's Euro-influenced architectural ambitions, the Municipal Theater opened its doors in 1881 with the presentation of Giuseppe Verdi's Il Trovatore by the Fortunato Corvaia Italian opera company. Its sumptuous, domed interior with three tiers of balconies echoes the grandiose European opera houses of the era. After a period of deterioration, it was reinaugurated in 1998, resuming its role as a showcase for operas and plays, as well as concerts by the Municipal Symphony Orchestra of Caracas.
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Torre Oeste
Parque Central is not, as you might expect, a green area, but rather a concrete complex of five high-rise residential slabs of somewhat apocalyptic appearance, crowned by two 54-story octagonal towers, the tallest in the country. You can ascend the Torre Oeste to the 49th floor for phenomenal views toward the north and west.
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Universidad Central de Venezuela
With its 85,000 students, the Universidad Central de Venezuela is Caracas' (and Venezuela's) largest university and is a hub of cultural activity. The vast campus was designed and built all in one go in the early 1950s by Carlos Raúl Villanueva. Dotted with abstract sculptures and murals throughout its grounds by international artists like Fernán Leger, Jean Arp and Wilfredo Lam, the entire complex was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 2000 for its innovative blending of art and architecture.
