Caracas

Libraries and Museums

Caracas has the best museums in Venezuela, several of which are well known on the continent. The Galería de Arte Nacional is located opposite Museum de Ciencias Naturales (natural science) and displays 400 works of art from four centuries of Venezuela's disciplines. The Museo de Bellas Artes is located next to it and features temporary exhibitions. A well-known Venezuelan architect, Carlos Raúl Villanueva, designed both. The Museo Criollo is on the ground floor of the Palacio Municipal (across from Plaza Bolivar in the city center) and houses items related to the city's history and works of local artist Raúl Santana.

The Museo Bolivariano, just south of Plaza Bolívar, is located in a colonial house, and it hosts independence documents, weapons, and several portraits of liberator Bolivar. The Museo Fundación John Boulton is in the same area in Torre El Chorro on the eleventh floor. This museum has a collection of historic objects collected by the Bolivar family, including colonial furniture and Bolivar memorabilia.

In the suburb of San Bernardino in the colonial mansion of Quinta de Anauco, visitors will find well-recom-mended Museo de Arte Colonial, which has a variety of works of art and furniture and offers tours in English. The lovely environment is a restored coffee hacienda and contains slave quarters now dedicated to a library on colonial art and history.

In the modern heart of the city, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo is located in Parque Central. This museum of contemporary art is the best of its kind in the country and also said by many to be the best on the continent. In its 16 halls, famous Venezuelan artists, such as Armando Reverón, Francisco Narváez, Jacobo Borges, and Alejandro Otero, display their works. International artists on display include Chagall, Picasso, Leger, and Miró. The museum also features a collection of approximately 100 engravings by Picasso. Finally, the Museo de los Niños (Children's Museum) is also located in Parque Central and provides interesting visits for kids and adults alike.