Miraflores Palace
The Miraflores Palace is the seat of the Government of Venezuela, where the official office of the President of the Republic is located in the center-west of the federal capital of Caracas, a few blocks from the Federal Palace Legislative. It began to be built in mid-1884 under the direction of the Italian Count Giussepe Orsi de Mombello during the mandate of President Joaquín Crespo (1884-1886), but it was from 1900 that it began to be used as the Presidential Palace, under the government by Cipriano Castro.
Unlike other countries, the Vice Presidency maintains its office in a separate office, located in front of the old Carmelitas Post Office building. The only governmental entity that is inside the palace is the Ministry of the Office of the Presidency. The residence of the president and vice president are located outside of Miraflores. The Presidential Residence La Casona is located in the Santa Cecilia urbanization and the Official Residence of La Viñeta (home of the Vice President) inside Fort Tiuna.
History
On April 27, 1884, General Joaquín Crespo took office as President of the Republic and in August of the same year bought the land of Hacienda La Trilla, which was owned by the Count of San Javier in colonial times, to start the construction of a new residence, where he would live with his wife, Jacinta Parejo de Crespo, and their children.
That is why this residence was originally called La Trilla, and later it was called Miraflores, its current name. There were two elements that influenced the slow development of the construction of the palace. On the one hand, the presidential obligations that prevented Crespo from directly dealing with the project; and on the other, the irregularity of the land, due to the fact that it was located on the lower slopes of the southern slope of Ciego de Avila. Later, around the year 1887, the second historical stage of the construction of Miraflores began, which was affected by the time and money requirements that Crespo was required to achieve his political goals.
For most of that time, Crespo will be out of the country, which makes it somewhat difficult to continue the project. However, in Spain he establishes contact with the builder Juan Bautista Sales, with whom he observes the models for the construction, the design of the first plans, and hires a group of artisans in carpentry, blacksmithing and decoration. It is said that during his stay in Spain, Crespo took the name of Miraflores due to a Cartuja that exists in the city of Burgos. A second version indicates that Crespo was inspired by that name as a result of his exile in Peru, where he stayed for some time in an old hacienda called Miraflores.
By the year 1889, when Crespo returned from exile, the most favorable stage in the construction of the palace was completed, because Crespo would dedicate more time to the continuation and completion of this project. Even for the year 1892 there are graphic testimonies of the external structure of the Palace, totally finished, identified with the name of La Trilla. In the year 1893, Crespo is elected president again, after the triumph of his Legalist Revolution, a favorable fact for the construction of Miraflores, since the construction can be completed in its internal part and also attend to the final details of the project.
In the year 1897, the corner that bears the name of Miraflores appears identified for the first time, in the map of Caracas, in addition to the area of the building. At the beginning of 1898, before going to the interior, Crespo made his last visit to the Palace, and shortly after he was assassinated in La Mata Carmelera. His death would generate a difficult stage in the construction of Miraflores. He had left numerous debts, which is why his assets are affected. In this way, Crespo's widow had to face some demands, from which Miraflores does not escape.
Following the earthquake that occurred in Caracas on October 29, 1900, General Cipriano Castro, already in power, decided to rent Miraflores as the presidential residence. He makes such a decision pressured by the fear that the earthquake inspired in him, since the earthquake surprised him in the Yellow House and he had to jump into the street from one of its balconies. Miraflores, on the other hand, had an anti-seismic construction. In this way, Castro becomes the first president to inhabit the Palace. Also, the Office of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit is transferred there.
On January 1, 1901, the Miraflores Palace offered the first official reception for the New Year. Subsequently, in March, the National Constituent Assembly approves a project by which the Federal Executive Power is authorized to acquire the property of the Palace in order to convert it into a Presidential Mansion. Meanwhile, the building is put up for auction and, finally, the government acquires it on June 19, 1911, to turn it into a presidential house. A short time later, General Juan Vicente Gómez became the first president to occupy the Palace as an official residence. There the General offers a great reception on the occasion of the Centennial of Independence, on July 5, 1911.
In 1936, General Eleazar López Contreras settled in Miraflores and changed the Palace from the personal character that Castro and Gómez had attributed to it, giving it the profile of a National Palace of Government and official residence of the presidents of Venezuela. In 1941, President Isaías Medina Angarita ordered the repair of the Presidential Office and improvements to the surroundings of the Palace.
In 1945, Rómulo Betancourt became the first president to identify Miraflores as the headquarters where Presidential Decrees are endorsed, replacing the Federal Palace, as was done before this date. In 1948, the first president elected by popular vote, the novelist Rómulo Gallegos, arrived at the Miraflores Palace.
Between 1948 and 1958, during the dictatorship of the Military Junta and General Marcos Pérez Jiménez, the Miraflores Palace was seriously neglected, and there was even a plan to destroy its facilities and replace it with another building that would serve as the official seat of the government. For the year 1959, Rómulo Betancourt, the first constitutional leader of the new democratic stage, dispatched from Miraflores and began a new expansion of some halls and rooms of the palace.
Years later, in the first constitutional period of Rafael Caldera (1969-1974) the lifting of the Administrative Building began. And in February 1979, the Palace was declared a National Historical Monument. In the period of President Luis Herrera Campíns (1979-1984), the Administrative Building and the Bicentennial Plaza were completed and during the administration of Jaime Lusinchi (1984-1989), the area corresponding to the Council of Ministers was expanded. In 1992 the structure of the palace was affected by the coup attempts on February 4 and November 27.
Between 1994 and 1999, a practice was undertaken aimed at rescuing the dignity of the Miraflores Palace as the official seat of government. For some years it was open to guided tours.
During the events of April 2002, a massive march was carried out towards this palace demanding the resignation of President Hugo Chávez. The anti-government march was diverted from its route to the Miraflores presidential palace. Faced with these events, President Chávez ordered the military to activate Plan Ávila, and the official television station Venezolana de Televisión began calling on all government supporters to come out and "defend the revolution." By the time the opposition march approached Miraflores, they found a concentration of support for the government and several military personnel. Armed confrontations then occurred between the Metropolitan Police, the Army and groups, which caused several deaths and injuries, highlighting the events of Puente Llaguno. The presence of snipers and clashes with the Metropolitan Police left 19 dead and hundreds injured, both opponents and supporters of the ruling party.
In February 2007, a new press room named Simón Bolívar was inaugurated, larger and more comfortable for holding conferences or important announcements by different government representatives. For years it was called Jesús Lossada Rondón Press Room, in homage to the journalist of the same name, who for years was the main spokesperson for events in the palace, through his column "Miraflores a la Vista".
In November 2012, the National Assembly approved an additional loan for the rehabilitation of the palace façade.
Spaces
Nestor Kirchner Hall
The area of the Néstor Kirchner Room (formerly called the Council of Ministers Room) is made up of the corridor, the anteroom and the meeting room.
The corridor connects the entrance corridor with the anteroom. Valuable pieces of the palace's artistic heritage stand out on both sides. Entering in front of the Pantano de Vargas Hall, is the "Bolívar" by the painter Cirilo Almeida.
Halfway, on the opposite side, on a wooden piece of furniture, there is a bust of General Carlos Soublette. Opposite the Antechamber, on the left wall is a charcoal work of the Precursor Francisco de Miranda and to the right the portrait of José María Vargas, by Alirio Palacios.
The Anteroom is made up of a personalized serigraphy of El Libertador, made by Alirio Palacios; a painting entitled "Los Pescadores", by Luisa Palacios (1958); and another painting called "The Tempest" by César Rengifo (1958). In addition, there is a piece of furniture decorated with chamfered panels with four drawers or drawers, with ring-shaped bronze handles, typical of the first half of the century XVIII.
There is also a miniature replica of the monument erected in the Campo de Carabobo on the occasion of the sesquicentennial of the battle of the same name: the work «La Patria al Soldado», by Hugo Daini; and a bust of the Liberator on a veined gray marble column, which is located at the entrance to the Meeting Room.
Meeting room is the area available to the president, ministers and other senior officials for their weekly meetings to attend to State affairs and related to the development of the Public Administration.
The room has the necessary furniture for the development of the activities that are carried out there; for many years he owned a painting of Bolívar, painted by the Colombian José María Espinosa, which was transferred in 2015 to the Simón Bolívar Hall. In 2011, this room was named in homage to former Argentine President Néstor Kirchner and inaugurated his portrait, the work of the painter Edgar Álvarez.
Hall of Ambassadors
When entering the Palace through the main entrance, intended for visitors, there is this small room, whose name comes from the fact that it is the place where the Ambassadors await the arrival of the President of the Republic, before entering the Sol Room From Peru. It is also used as a reception room for other distinguished personalities.
Since the end of 1996, the room has been dominated by portraits of the first owners of the Palace, General Joaquín Crespo Torres and his wife, Jacinta Parejo de Crespo, two works by the painter Martín Tovar y Tovar. In the same way, there are two paintings by the painter Julián Oñate on the opposite wall, called “Page with Flowers” and “Page with Fruits”. In addition, you can see two busts with a marble base, one of Simón Bolívar and the other of Napoleon Bonaparte. Also, there are two evocative pieces by the musicians Ludwig van Beethoven and Richard Wagner.
On the back wall of the room there are two Venuses, one of white marble with a semi-naked torso and her chest partially covered by garlands that her hands hold; the other is completely bare-chested, but with her head tilted slightly to the left and her arms stretched out in front.
In the living room furniture, the Empire style prevails, Pompeian decorations, and the entire floor is parquet. The living room ceiling is a coffered ceiling, the work of Catalan and Italian artists hired by Crespo.
Boyacá Hall
It is one of the largest halls of the Palace, and its name is due to the battle waged by the Liberator Simón Bolívar against Colonel José María Barreiro, on August 7, 1819, after which most of the New Granada territory. It was built at the beginning of the sixties and since then it is a space that is used for meetings and work meetings, especially when many people attend. On certain occasions, the sessions of the sectoral cabinets have been held in this hall, as well as lunches and entertainment of all kinds to pay homage to various personalities, both national and foreign. In the decoration of the living room, the parquet floor and the ceilings and baseboards adorned with pieces, moldings and wooden motifs predominate. On the back wall there is a painting by the painter and muralist Gabriel Bracho, who represents with his characteristic style the heroic deed on the Boyacá bridge. The faces of Bolívar, Santander and José Antonio Anzoátegui reveal the leading action of these characters in said battle. The painting was inaugurated by President Rafael Caldera during his first government, on August 1, 1973.
At the other end, on the sides of the door adjacent to the corridor that leads to the Council of Ministers room, there are two busts: one represents General José Antonio Anzoátegui, hero of Boyacá, and the other the humanist Andrés Bello.
Vargas Swamp Hall
It is a rectangular environment and its name is due to the victory obtained by Bolívar on July 25, 1819 in the site of the same name, during the development of the Liberation Campaign of New Granada. The area is used as a waiting room for people who are going to participate in a ceremony in the Simón Bolívar Hall and for visitors in general.
In the room, the presentation of some books published by the Presidency and other government institutions is carried out. Likewise, acts are carried out to pay homage to various personalities of national life.
Since 1995, thanks to an agreement between the Ministry of the Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic and the National Art Gallery, the hall has become a place where some collections of works owned by the gallery are regularly exhibited.
In addition, in this room you can see some of the presidential chairs used by: José Antonio Páez, Antonio Guzmán Blanco, Joaquín Crespo and Juan Vicente Gómez. The furniture is completed by ten pieces including armchairs and chairs, two consoles and a wall piano in dark wood. The floor is mosaic and the ceiling is crossed by dark wooden beams.
Simón Bolívar Hall
The Simón Bolívar Room is used for meetings of the president with his cabinet and diplomatic delegations, it is also a place for the appointment of new ministers and ambassadors. This room is characterized by a long table guarded in the main part by two large paintings that are behind the presidential back. The traditional name, Hall of Mirrors, was replaced by order of President Hugo Chávez by the Joaquín Crespo Hall and later, during the government of Nicolás Maduro, it began to be called the Simón Bolívar Hall. On its walls hang works by Julián Oñate y Juárez and Arturo Michelena. The portrait of Bolívar by the painter José María Espinoza, traditionally located in the Hall of the Council of Ministers, was transferred to this venue in 2015.
Sol del Perú Salon
It is one of the most representative rooms of the palace. It is mainly used for diplomatic accreditation and special events. In its decoration, a golden sun donated by the Peruvian government stands out, as well as the paintings "El Día" and "La Noche", by Arturo Michelena; an equestrian portrait of Simón Bolívar (1936) and a portrait of the first president of Venezuela, Cristóbal Mendoza, both by Tito Salas. The Bolívar de Salas served as the main painting of the room, but it was replaced in the most recent restoration by a portrait of Antonio José de Sucre.
Ayacucho Hall
This room is located in the administrative building, it is used for most of the presidential messages on radio and television. The room is characterized by mahogany-colored wooden walls, it has space for approximately 200 or 250 people who are located in front of the podium where the president presents himself to the country. It is also the setting for the reception of Heads of State and Government, as well as for the awarding of the Order of the Liberator to different personalities from the political, cultural and institutional world who receive this award. The Ayacucho Hall is characterized by having a picture of the Liberator Simón Bolívar in front, this is behind the desk where the Head of State of the nation presents himself to the country.
Presidential Office
In this office you can see a decoration where the Empire style predominates, which contrasts perfectly with the furniture and decorations. There is a bust of Andrés Bello and a bronze bust of Simón Bolívar, who wears a medal with the face of George Washington around his neck. Space distributed according to the following areas:
- Before the office: it is a spacious space that is adjacent to the Presidential Office door. It is one of the areas where remains of the original Palace floor are still preserved. It highlights a painting by General José Antonio Páez, an anonymous author and a sculpture by Pedro Básalo entitled "La República de Venezuela". The decoration completes a desk, an Empire-style chair and a large mirror with a golden frame.
- Office of the President: it is presided over by the national shield and on the walls are four paintings by Tito Salas: "El Libertador Simón Bolívar", "El Mariscal Antonio José de Sucre", "El General Rafael Urdaneta" and "El General José Antonio Páez", the main heroes of the Independence of Venezuela.
- Dispatch of the Private Secretary: it is an environment configured according to the tasks undertaken there. It has a painting by Jacobo Borges entitled "La Novia" (1975), "Un Paisaje de Caracas" (1996) by Gabriel Bracho and "Un Paisaje del Avila", by Pedro Ángel González.
Chapel
It is a Catholic oratory, with a very small space, adjacent to the Hall of Ambassadors. It preserves the original floor of the palace (hand-painted mosaic). The back wall has an image of the Heart of Jesus in the upper part, decorated and magnified with rays placed behind it. The images of Saint John the Baptist and the Immaculate Conception are also found here. In the lower part, there are two images arranged on the sides of the altar, San Judas Tadeo, on the left side and San Simón el Cananeo, on the right. There is an Altar that has a Crucifix, some amphoras and some bronze candelabra. In front of the altar, there are four kneelers and a polished wooden table with carved edges. The upper space of the altar has a stained glass window with the Heart of Jesus and next to it a motif and a plaque, reminders of the first visit of Pope John Paul II to Venezuela and a baptismal font in white marble. On the left wall there are four paintings, where the images of San Antonio de Padua, Santa Catalina de Siena, Santa Rita de Casia and the Most Holy Exposed in Custody appear.
Adjacent buildings
White Palace and Honor Guard Barracks
Both the White Palace and the Honor Guard Barracks are the work of the architect Luís Malaussena Andueza. Both projects respond to a neoclassical, academic and rhetorical style. They were inaugurated on December 2, 1956, during the Pérez Jiménez dictatorship. At the top of this building you can see four statues that symbolize: justice, law, labor and science, made by the Italian sculptor Hugo Daini.
- Governor ' s Chamber:
It is a large quadrilateral located on the ground floor of the White Palace. Various work meetings are held in this room. Some acts of massive recognition of the staff are carried out. In the same way, operations are carried out for the benefit of employees and workers, such as updating documents. The room is presided over by a painting by Simón Bolívar (1956) painted by Luis C. Gyory, and an original by Paulín Guerín from 1843; on the other side is the national coat of arms.
Among the elements that decorate the walls of the hall are 24 stained glass windows: 22 represent the states of the country (with the sketch corresponding to each entity and the national shield), another corresponds to the Capital District and the last one shows the face of the Liberator. Its walls are fully covered with finished wood, as are the two columns. The floor is covered by a blue carpet.
- Patria Hall:
It is located in the "Division General Fernando Rodríguez del Toro" Honor Guard Regiment Building. In 1980 it was inaugurated under the name of "Altar to the Gods of Liberty" and, later, it adopted the current name. This room represents the history of Venezuela from its beginnings to the era of progress and technological advances. Upon entering the room, a tribute to the Bolivarian countries is observed.
Bicentennial Building
Built during the presidency of Luis Herrera Campíns, it contains several meeting rooms, the presidential press room, as well as different administrative units of the Ministry of the Secretariat of the Presidency and offices of some ministers.
- Red Room:
It is called this way due to the color of the floor of the enclosure. It is a multipurpose room appropriate for work meetings. Next to it is a spacious hall where conferences, workshops and some cultural, religious and staff recognition events are organized.
- South Gallery:
For many years there were the facilities of the Historical Archive of Miraflores. In this enclosure all the historical documents of the Presidency of the Republic are kept. From here the Historical Archive Bulletin is published and distributed. At the end of the 1990s, the publication of the Minutes of the Council of Ministers also began.
- Plaza Bicentenario:
Designed by the architect Oscar Tenreiro, it was inaugurated on April 29, 1983, on the occasion of the bicentennial of the birth of Bolívar. It is located in the southern part of the Miraflores Palace and has an extension of eight thousand square meters, covered with adobones. This wide space allows the realization of a series of special activities typical of the personnel of the Ministry of the Secretariat. It also serves as a stage for weekly shows of public recreation and entertainment. The square contains a Mural ("Raíces de la Libertad", by Braulio Salazar), a fountain that slides down the south wall like a curtain of water, and a general ceramic work for the square by the artist Ricardo Ceruzzi.
Miraflores Historical Archive
Its main function is to preserve the documents of the presidents of Venezuela from the government of Cipriano Castro (1899-1908) to the present. Composed of a record of more than fifteen million pages, the Miraflores Historical Archive was conceived by the historian and politician Ramón José Velásquez, during his years as Secretary of the Presidency in the second government of Rómulo Betancourt (1959-1964).. After discovering in the basement of the Presidential Guard Headquarters a series of papers corresponding to the governments of Castro and Juan Vicente Gómez (1908-1935), it was decided to recover and organize an archive that included all the documentation generated by the Presidency of the Republic. All this record, organized chronologically and by administration, has been systematically published in the Boletín del Archivo Histórico de Miraflores. For many years it was located in the administration building in the southern part of the palace. In 2016 it was moved to the former headquarters of the General Archive of the Nation, between the corners of Santa Capilla and Carmelitas.
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