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18115 July 1811 · Caracas

Venezuela's declaration of independence

Martín Tovar y Tovar's painting of deputies signing Venezuela's Act of Independence in 1811
Archival image: Martín Tovar y Tovar. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

On 5 July 1811 a congress of Venezuelan provinces, meeting in the chapel of Santa Rosa de Lima on Caracas's main square, declared independence from Spain, the first Spanish American colony to do so formally. The First Republic collapsed within a year, but the Caracas-born Simón Bolívar fought on, and the battle of Carabobo in 1821 secured Venezuelan independence.

Travel advisory. The UK advises against all but essential travel to Venezuela (checked October 2026), and flights were only partly restored after the June 2026 earthquakes. A reference entry: no guide research proposed. We list this event for reference, and don't list guides here until travel is possible again.

Sites

  1. Site 1: Capilla de Santa Rosa de Lima, Plaza BolívarChapel in the city hall where congress approved the declaration.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: Casa Natal del LibertadorBolívar's rebuilt birthplace, with battle murals by Tito Salas.Map ↗
  3. Site 3: Panteón NacionalFormer church holding Bolívar's tomb.Map ↗

More from the 18th & 19th Century

Read more: reference. Summary written by History-Tours.com.