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Useful data for the Route: Coro – Venezuela |
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Addresses of State institutions |
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Office of the Governor of Falcón State
Calle Anpies, Palacio de Gobierno
Coro - Edo. Falcón
 (0268) 251 96 12 / 251 25 11 / 251 05 13 / 251 76 12 / 251 91 65
 (0268) 251 80 04 / 251 28 55 / 251 18 22
Falcón State Secretariat of Tourism
Calle Falcón, Paseo Alameda entre Falcón y Palmasola
Coro, Estado Falcón
(58268) 251 80 33 / 253 07 14
(58268) 251- 18 33
 falcon-natural@yahoo.com
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Sea Terminals |
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NAVIARCA:
Falcón-Aruba Ferry.
(58-268) 416.90.01
Charges:
$ 70 per person
$ 150 por vehicle
Polica Salas Passenger Teminal in Coro
Av. Rómulo Gallegos.
(58-268) 252.55.50 / 251.76.63 / 251.31.34
Guaranao Port at Punto Fijo
(58-269) 248.15.93 / 248.21.19
Muaco Port in La Vela de Coro
(0414) 681.69.81 (mobile)
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Sites of interest to visit |
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Cardón y Cuiva Thermal Waters
Located at Km 51 on the Coro-Sabaneta-Agua Clara road.
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San Clemente Chapel
Located at the corner of Zamora street and Federación. It is said that Juan de Ampiés built a temple dedicated to San Clemente here in the first half of the eighteenth century. This is one of Venezuela’s three churches to have a ground plan in the shape of a cross.
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San Nicolás Chapel
Falcón and Hospital streets.
Built in the first half of the eighteenth century, the chapel’s roofing and colonial altarpiece have been conserved.
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Coro Cathedral
Ciencias Street between Palmasola and paseo Talavera.
Known as the Temple of Santa Ana, the church was erected between 1583 and 1632. It is the country’s oldest cathedral and the oldest building in the city. The three naves supported by Tuscan columns combine classical architecture with some elements of local baroque. Venezuela’s first mass was held in this church.
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San Francisco Church
Miranda Avenue and Zamora street.
Known for possessing the city´s highest tower, this church dates from the eighteenth century. It was destroyed during the Federation War and is now being restored after having been abandoned for years.
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Dr. León Croizat xerophilous botanical garden
Intercomunal Avenue.
The botanical garden was created in 1972 to familiarize visitors with the spiny vegetation of the area. It continually conducts ecological and environmental studies and research, thus contributing to a wider knowledge of the region’s natural biology. Open to the public from Tuesday to Sunday 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon and 2:30 to 5:30 p.m.
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Small castle or Monument to the Flag
La Vela de Coro
This monument was built over the ruins of the old fortress.
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Monument to the Mother
Esteban Smith Monzón Avenue.
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Monument to the Federation
Commemorates the Federal War that started in Coro on February 20, 1859.
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Alberto Henríquez Museum
Site of the ancient Jewish Synagogue.
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Coro Art Museum
Talavera Paseo, house of the Seniors’ Balcony.
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Branch of the Caracas Museum of Contemporary Art
The museum is housed in a handsome colonial mansion. Open to the public from Tuesday to Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 and 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
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Lucas Guillermo Castillo Museum or Diocesan Museum
The museum, which operates in the old Convent of Our Lady of Salceda, possesses one of the country’s best art collections. Open to the public from Tuesday to Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
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Ceramics Museum, House of the Arcayas
Zamora and Federación streets, in front of the House of the Sun. This is one of the few two-story houses in the old part of the city. In 1974 the Arcaya family donated the house to the Nation. It was turned into the Ceramics Museum, which houses an important collection of glazed colonial tiles and Venezuelan ceramics. Open to the public from Tuesday to Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon and 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
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Maritime Museum
La Vela de Coro
This building with its Dutch-influence architecture was formerly the old customhouse.
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Caves of el Toro Gorge National Park
Located in Unión municipality 15 km from Santa Cruz de Bucaral.
This 8 500 hectare piece of land was officially made a national park on May 21, 1969. It is known for its rugged landscape, in which the 2 000 meter Cave of el Toro Gorge is the most outstanding feature. The longest cave in Falcón State and in all of western Venezuela, it ranks fifth among the country’s caves. It is also known as De Bellard cave, in honor of its discoverer, Venezuelan speleologist Eugenio de Bellard. The guácharo bird shares the cave with a varied collection of insects and spiders.
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The Médanos of Coro National Park
Located at Km 5 on the Coro-Paraguaná Peninsula road, this national park was created on February 6, 1974. It occupies 91 280 hectares along the 34 km Médanos isthmus. The park contains sand dunes rising 20 masl on average, which are constantly exposed to winds, giving them an ever changing contour. It is set amid mangroves, thorny and herbaceous vegetation and coastal plant colonies. No permit is needed to enter the park.
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Sierra de San Luis National Park
Also known as Juan Crisóstomo Falcón , this park is located in the center of the state, between the districts of Miranda, Colina, Petit and Bolívar. A landscape of natural beauty, it is also the source of water for the entire coastal region. The park covers 20 000 hectares and was established on May 6, 1987. It contains Venezuela’s largest network of underground lakes and the Curimagua microvalley, the site of caves with large chambers, chasms and galleries. The park also contains several waterfalls formed by the Ricoa and Hueque rivers, where one can bathe.
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Román Antonio Media Alameda Walk
It is said that during the Federal War of 1859, the Federalist military forces built an underground tunnel linking up the square –where the cross of San Clemente is located— with the Cathedral, below this walk. It was first used as a refuge and to store weapons and later as a cemetery for the followers of both groups. Legend tells us that anyone who strolls along the Alameda Walk at midnight on February 20 will hear a loud murmur as of people praying their rosaries, which is attributed to all of the fallen during the war.
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Antillana Square
La Vela de Coro
Behind the town pier stands the statue of a Dutch woman, commemorating the friendly relations between the Antilles and Venezuela.
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Francisco de Miranda Square
The square is a memorial to Miranda’s first attempt to free Venezuela on August 3, 1806, when he unfurled the country’s three-colored flag for the first time on Venezuelan soil at the San Pedro fort.
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Manaure Square
Dedicated to the Indian chief Manaure who gave Juan de Ampiés a hospitable welcome.
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San Clemente Square
Located in front of the Alameda, the square displays the Cross of San Clemente. Tradition tells us that when Juan de Ampiés founded Coro in 1527, this cross was raised for the first mass blessing the city.
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Village of San Luis de la Sierra
This highly original village is located an hour and a half from Coro. Here, the Spaniards were unable to stick to their traditional organizational system and had to adjust to the geography. It contains a natural bathing pool and a spring water resort.
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The Port of la Vela de Coro
The Port, together with the city of Coro, was declared by UNESCO in 1993 a World Cultural Heritage Site. The old Port of Coro and of the Venezuelan province, it still maintains a large part of its original architecture. It was here in la Vela that Francisco de Miranda raised the National Flag for the first time on August 3, 1806.
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Muaco Port
La Vela de Coro
The Lusitania Express sails from this port to the islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. For more information about the ferry, get in touch with the State Tourist Bureau.
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Taima-Taima Archeological Site
This archeological site is located in the Taima-Taima gorge, some 20 km from the city in the municipality of Colina.
The site’s geological structure consists of several terraces located at 23 masl, from which brackish water flows. It was discovered in 1961 by José María Cruxent, founder of the Francisco de Miranda Experimental National University’s Archeological and Paleontological Research Center.
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House of the Seniors
Paseo Talavera
The Seniors were a family from Curacao that emigrated to Coro in 1825. Simón Bolívar stayed in this mansion during his visit to Coro in 1826. Today it houses the Coro Museum of Contemporary Art and is considered a National Monument.
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Jewish Cemetery
Founded by José Curiel, a Jewish merchant from Curacao, this National Monument is the oldest cemetery in South America.
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San Clemente Cross
Standing in front of San Clemente chapel, this wooden cross commemorates the first mass held in Venezuela five centuries ago. It was placed there by the founder of Coro, Juan de Ampiés and is still the city’s religious symbol.
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The House of the Iron Windows
Zamora and Colón streets.
This is Coro’s most important civil structure and one of the most unique examples of baroque colonial architecture in Venezuela. Its wrought iron grilles were imported from Seville, an unheard-of extravagance for colonial Coro.
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The Bishop’s House or the Treasure House
Zamora and Colón streets.
This mansion first belonged to Don Mariano de Talavera y Garcés, Bishop of Guayana. It was then used as a military headquarters, falling later into disuse. It has now been restored. It is said that one of its tunnels housed a treasure at one time and that it possesses an entry into a mysterious labyrinth, linking it up with the San Francisco Convent, the San Clemente Chapel and the Cathedral.
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The House of the Sun
Zamora and Federación streets in front of the San Clemente chapel.
This house, build in the eighteenth century, is now the headquarters of the Coro courts. Its architecture is typical Corian and it takes its name from the decoration on its façade.
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