Caracas is a city that boasts many theaters. This is another great venue that presents plays not only for adults, but for children as well. You can also rent one of its rooms for your own event. The theater has a parking lot and security.
This area, which nowadays is part of the old Caracas downtown, was a rural area in Bolivar's childhood. This used to be the family's country home, an area that at present takes up a whole block. This property was declared a National Historical Monument in 1959. Kept up with the same fervor as everything belonging to the Liberator, it recreates the environment in which little Simon spent his childhood, instructed by the great teachers Andres Bello and Simon Rodríguez. During the first years of the 19th century, it also hosted secret meetings in which the struggle for Venezuelan independence was being organized. Admission is free.
This building dates to the end of the 16th century and has served, successively, as a Franciscan convent, seat of the Central University of Venezuela and, currently, as the headquarters of the Academies Palace. Academies, plural, since it houses the National Academy of History, the Venezuelan Academy of Language, the National Academy of Medicine, the Academy of Political and Social Sciences, plus the Academy of Physical and Natural Sciences and Mathematics. It is wholly dedicated to study, research and the broadcasting of data, in spite of the fact that a vital institution that had shared the same building, the headquarters of the National Library, recently moved to a larger and much more modern building.
Ateneo de Caracas is a large cultural center complete with theater, café, library, art gallery, cinema and bookshop. It boasts a fine auditorium, and there is plenty to see and do. You can enjoy ballet, a variety of concerts and drama, music and film festivals. Plays are staged every few weeks, and often performed in their original language, commonly English. It is at the Ateneo that you can also see the productions of Rajatabla, Venezuela's national theater company. The complex is situated on the Plaza Morelos, in Parque Los Caobos.
The Teatro Nacional is located in the historic center of Caracas and is housed in a building which dates from 1905 and is built on the site of the former Oratorio de San Felipe Neri cemetery. It hosts a variety of different shows: operettas, comedies, classical and modern theatre. They also put on wonderful musicals for children. It is one of the permanent venues of the Festival Internacional de Teatro de Caracas. Tickets can be reserved and paid for in advance. There are special rates for groups.
Caracas has its own Monte Calvario (Calvario mountain), or rather, its own "colina Calvario" (Calvario hill) where the Holy Week processions went to in the 18th century. It was on this hill that President Guzmán Blanco built the Paseo El Calvario. His successor, Joaquín Crespo built the Arco de la Federación in this Paseo in 1895. This is not the French Arc de Triumph, but it's a beautiful and elegant monument of an incredible whiteness, which stands out against the intense green of the surrounding park and the deep blue of the Caracas sky. On the top part of the arch you can read the words FEDERACION. The arch was built in remembrance of the Federal War that took place from 1859 until 1863.