Caracas Cathedral

One of the main colonial buildings of Venezuela’s capital. The current church began to be built in 1559 on the remains of an old temple built in adobe (wall of sticks interwoven with canes and clay). Since, the building has been expanded and restored in various ways, especially after the earthquakes of 1641 and 1766. The most original element in the whole set is the plastered brick façade. Built between 1710 and 1713, it constitutes a clear example of façade-cover, superimposed to the previous volume of the building by architect Francisco Andrés Meneses. The tower, as it is known nowadays, dates from 1812. The interior has also undergone various changes. In 1866 the lateral naves were enlarged and the choir was sited behind the high altar; and in 1932, the original wooden cover was demolished to raise in its place the current vaults. In the decoration of the temple have participated, among others, sculptors Francisco Gómez Frías and Juan Francisco de León Quintana, authors of the altarpieces of the chapel of the Deans (1715) and of the sacristy (c. 1770), respectively, and painter Cristóbal de Rojas.