Sabana Grande, Caracas
Coordinates: 10°29′21″N 66°52′25″W / 10.4892714°N 66.8737124°W
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The Sabana Grande district is divided into several middle class neighborhoods located in the Parroquia El Recreo of the Libertador Municipality, in the geographical center of the Metropolitan District of Caracas and owes its name to the old town of Sabana Grande.[1] The Twin Towers of El Recreo Shopping Mall occupy the position number 5 (CitiBank Tower) and number 6 (Movilnet Tower) of the tallest skyscrapers in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.[2] The most important neighborhoods of the district are: Sabana Grande, Bello Monte, San Antonio de Sabana Grande, Las Delicias de Sabana Grande and Los Caobos.[3] Sabana Grande is an important commercial, financial, residential and cultural area within the city in the Capital District, on the east side of the central Plaza Venezuela and Los Caobos. The commercial and financial district Sabana Grande is the main commercial corridor of the city and it is estimated that more than 500 thousand people visit it daily.[4] Parroquia El Recreo, specifically Sabana Grande, is the most commercial area of the Libertador Municipality and produces more than half of its tax revenue. For several years, Parroquia El Recreo has wanted to be an independent municipality.[5][6] Sabana Grande is a district with a very rich history and was the cradle of Venezuelan democracy, since the Puntofijo Pact was signed there.[7] Before suffering a cerebral infarction in 2009, Argentine musician Gustavo Cerati had gone out to party at the Bohemian club Moulin Rouge, located on Francisco Solano López Avenue in Sabana Grande.[8]
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The boulevard of Sabana Grande was built because of the topographic limitations of the capital city and the Caracas Metro project.[9] Following the Caracas metro project, This district also had the first two shopping centers in Caracas: The East Shopping Center (on Casanova Avenue) and The Gran Avenida, formerly known as Fifth Avenue Shopping Center.[10] The Eastern Shopping Center is still open, but it is practically unrecognizable due to the modifications that its owners have made. Parroquia El Recreo (Sabana Grande district) is the only place in Libertador Municipality which still host European embassies, such as the Embassy of Greece (located in La Florida neighborhood) and the Embassies of Abkhazia and Chechnya in Gran Meliá Caracas luxury hotel, both related to the Russian Federation. Sabana Grande is a financial district with a very rich history in Caracas and hosts some of the best restaurants in the city: Urrutia, La Huerta,[11] Da Guido, Eight Bistro Caracas,[12] Mediterráneo, El Lagar, L'Albufera, Caserío, Va Bene (fast food), El Arabito (fast food), and many others. Boulevard of Sabana Grande is the only public space in Caracas that has three Balú H&M stores.[13] In 2012, City Market Shopping Center was visited by the Vampire Woman at the Tattoo Expo.[14] Sabana Grande is the main space of the LGBT community[15] and the different urban tribes of Caracas, like the metalheads,[16][17] bohemians[18][18][16] and tukkis.[19][20][21] The Venezuelan rock band Sentimiento Muerto became popular in this district.[22]
Since 2017, after the rehabilitation of the boulevard of Sabana Grande by PDVSA La Estancia in 2011, Sabana Grande has the presence of medium-high standing shops such as: Balú H&M[23] (three stores in the boulevard and one in El Recreo Shopping Mall),[24] Planeta Sports (Levi's),[25] Apolo Shoes,[26] AISHOP, Brands Shop (Estivaneli, Alcott, Lefties, Stradivarius, Carpisa, Primadona Pimkie, and more),[27] Mango, Traki, Angely, Pavitas and many more. Balú H&M has been so successful that in Panama, Curaçao, Dominicana and Colombia they have been asked to open premises.[13] The Boulevard of Sabana Grande is also home to the most important ornithological collection in Latin America: the William Phelps ornithological museum.[28] It is the preferred space for the LGBT community[29][30] and urban tribes. The first gay pride march took place in Sabana Grande, on June 23, 1997.[31] Less than 15 percent of the people who walk daily in Sabana Grande actually live in Sabana Grande district. The majority come from foreign parishes and municipalities of Caracas.[20][16][18] Since the city grew east of Caracas, the Sabana Grande district began to popularize[18].
Sabana Grande and its neighborhoods
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Sabana Grande is one of the most important commercial, residential and cultural areas of Caracas.[32]The Sabana Grande neighborhood should not be confused with the Sabana Grande district, since the latter encompasses more than one neighborhood, according to the current ordinances of the Mayor's Office of the Libertador Municipality of Caracas.[33] The district borders La Florida neighborhood to the north (which was part of Sabana Grande before being urbanized by Luis Roche and Arismendii[34][35]), Colinas de Bello Monte neighborhood to the south, to the east Chacaíto, El Rosal, El Bosque and Country Club neighborhoods and to the west Los Caobos neighborhood. Sabana Grande is the main pedestrian shopping district of Caracas.
Sabana Grande neighborhood is the sector that had best preserved the original Spanish urban layout of the West Indies, even though the latest real estate projects and the repeated remodeling the boulevard "Americanized it" anyway.[36] According to PDVSA La Estancia, San Antonio neighborhood in Sabana Grande was designed in honor of Saint Anthony of Padua, in the middle of the 20th century. According to Luis Polito, this was actually a sector of Sabana Grande neighborhood that was modified by the Venezuelan architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva, who designed more than twenty villas in the area.[36] San Antonio Street was formerly Avenue 2 of El Colegio. Las Delicias neighborhood was built on the grounds of the old Hippodrome of the sector, which lasted less than five years. Bello Monte neighborhood owes its name to one of the main houses of the Hacienda Ibarra. Behind these real estate projects, was the Venezuelan entrepreneur Juan Bernardo Arismendi, who did great business in the Sabana Grande district.[36]
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The boulevard of Sabana Grande is the main landmark of the district and is located to the east of the stunning Plaza Venezuela. Many heritage buildings are located in the boulevard of Sabana Grande. Sabana Grande has been an area of artists, poets, merchants, foreign immigrants, writers, craftsmen, etc. In 1990, it was the second place in the world with the highest density of movie stars.[37] Hoyo de las Delicias popular community on the outskirts of the neighborhood Las Delicias de Sabana Grande and the neighborhood El Bosque, was one of the first improvised popular communities in the city and is very vulnerable to flooding because of the rains. Las Delicias de Sabana Grande neighborhood (in which the Puntofijo Pact was signed[7]) is older than the area that is now known as the Sabana Grande neighborhood and was initially proposed as a sector.[38] The square meter in buildings such as the Residential Center Solano (Centro Residencial Solano) is one of the most expensive in Caracas, despite the ups and downs that Sabana Grande has had throughout its history. The neighborhood La Florida was built following the commercial boom of the Sabana Grande area in the mid-twentieth century and had as target the upper middle class.[35] San Antonio neighborhood in Sabana Grande was built in honor of Anthony of Padua, also in the mid-twentieth century. San Antonio Street was formerly Avenue 2 of El Colegio. Las Delicias neighborhood in Sabana Grande was built on the grounds of the former Hippodrome, which lasted less than five years. Bello Monte neighborhood owes its name to one of the main houses of the Hacienda Ibarra, in the surroundings of Sabana Grande.
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The Sabana Grande district and its neighborhoods (Sabana Grande, Bello Monte Norte, San Antonio de Sabana Grande and Las Delicias de Sabana Grande) have very good road communications: Libertador Avenue, Francisco Solano Avenue, Casanova Avenue, Venezuela Avenue and the Francisco Fajardo Highway. The district is crossed by the boulevard of Sabana Grande, the main pedestrian space of Caracas and the longest commercial corridor of the city. Abraham Lincoln was the name of the avenue that existed before the boulevard of Sabana Grande. At the end of the boulevard, there are still trails of Abraham Lincoln Avenue, on the border with the Chacao Municipality and the Chacaíto sector. Less than 20 percent of the people who travel daily in the vicinity of the Sabana Grande districts live in one of their neighborhoods. It is a strongly commercial area that serves as a connection for the rest of Greater Caracas. It should be noted that the Plaza Brión de Chacaíto was built as the final leisure place of the boulevard of Sabana Grande, despite belonging to Chacao Municipality today. At that time, Metropolitan Caracas was divided into Libertador and Sucre. The Brión Square was conceived as the final leisure space of the boulevard of Sabana Grande in 1983, when it was built by the Caracas Metro. From the point of view of urban design and structure, Plaza Brión constitutes the final leisure space of the boulevard of Sabana Grande and the Francisco de Miranda Avenue.[38] The Brión Square was once part of the Francisco Miranda Avenue of Miranda State.[16]
Sabana Grande has the most budget hotels per capita in Caracas.[39] The Gran Meliá Caracas hotel has the embassy of Chechnya and Abkhazia (territory disputed by Georgia), both related to the Russian Federation. The helipad of the Sabana Grande Business Center is one of the most impressive in Caracas, the work of Francisco Pimentel, Oscar Capiello and Bernardo Borges. The Sabana Grande Business Center was the first smart building in Caracas.[40] The Sabana Grande Business Center is the headquarters of Petrocaribe, PDVSA La Estancia and many other important companies. The heliport was not contemplated in the original project, but then it was added. The Eastern Business Center located on Avenida Casanova is one of the most important works of the architects Jorge Romero Gutiérrez, Pedro Neuberger and Dirk Bornhorst[41] and was conceived as a harmonious whole to satisfy not only the technical needs, but also all those related needs and correlated from the economic, social and cultural point of view.[42] This business complex has Turkish baths, premises for exhibitions, bars, restaurants, gyms and swimming pools. The Eastern Business Center also houses now gay saunas.[43] The Banco Plaza Tower is the fourth highest banking headquarters in the country, designed by Alfredo Himiob, Santos Valdes and Rupert Joaquin.[44] This district also had the first two commercial centers of Caracas: the Centro Comercial del Este (on Avenida Casanova) and the Gran Avenida, formerly known as Fifth Avenue.[45] The Eastern Shopping Center is still operational, but it is difficult to recognize due to the modifications that its owners have made. Sabana Grande also houses the mythical Venezuelan Book Store, which contains more than 2 million books in its basements.[46] Some of those books could be more than three centuries old.[47]
History of Sabana Grande
Foundation and early years
Originally, the area where today stands the commercial and financial sector Sabana Grande, was an agricultural town in which there were some coffee plantations, such as Hacienda Ibarra, which extended to the Central University of Venezuela and part of the neighborhoods Colinas de Bello Monte and Las Mercedes. At first, the town of Sabana Grande was connected to the agricultural community of Chacao.[38] Hacienda Ibarra was expropriated during the government of Isaías Medina Angarita to modernize the city and part of the previous house is still conserved in the campus of the Central University of Venezuela.[48] The main house of this hacienda was located in Bello Monte of the financial district Sabana Grande, and this house no longer exists.[49] The town of Sabana Grande was the communication route between Caracas to the large plantations (haciendas) located on the outskirts of the city.[50]
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In the first decades of the 20th century, it was still possible to reach Sabana Grande by riding a horse.[50] For the year 1743, the sector was called "Calle Real de Sabana Grande" and linked the central part of Caracas with the haciendas located to the east. In the surroundings of the Santiago de León Clinic, the Immaculate Conception Church and the Solano Residential Center (Centro Residencial Solano), there are still some houses that are more than 120 years old. The large modern buildings of the financial district continue to coexist with the structures of the town of Sabana Grande. Nowadays, PDVSA is restoring Quinta Primavera, a house located in Las Delicias neighborhood of Sabana Grande. The house will be a cultural center in Caracas.
Although PDVSA La Estancia has done a research,[38] there is no consensus on the date of foundation of Parroquia El Recreo.[51] Some say that around 1852, the area was elevated to a foreign parish by the Caracas authorities of the time, which served to overcome its status as a hamlet, given the significant number of inhabitants and buildings.[52] Others say that, Parroquia El Recreo was created on November 22, 1864 and not in 1852 – as an ecclesiastical parish -.[51] The birthday of El Recreo is handled between November 22, 1864 and November 4, 1870, according to some sources. On November 4, 1870, the area was integrated into the city of Caracas by the Caracas authorities in the government of Antonio Guzmán Blanco and was named "The Immaculate Conception and San Jose del Recreo" by the presbyter Jose Botel Peraza. Over time, Sabana Grande became a popular summer destination for college students and that's why the area was known as "El Recreo". Sabana Grande was definitively separated from Chacao when it was annexed as the eastern parish of Caracas.[38]
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Towards the end of the 19th century, the Hippodrome of Sabana Grande (Las Delicias neighborhood), run by the Jockey Club of Caracas, operated in the area, and its executives included the prominent artist Arturo Michelena. This hippodrome was the first in Caracas and worked in the area until 1906 when the racecourse was moved to El Paraíso neighborhood.[53][54][55] In the Museum of Arturo Michelena in La Pastora neighborhood, there are still the paintings of the horse of Michelena and the Hippodrome of Sabana Grande. Later, in 1951, construction began on Abraham Lincoln Avenue, which over time would communicate the neighborhood La Florida (which previously also had a boulevard) and Libertador Avenue (Sabana Grande). From 1960, Libertador Avenue of Sabana Grande was taking its status as a center of commercial development in the capital, to fill with shops, restaurants and outdoor cafes, which began to assist the intellectuals and personalities of the moment. Juan Domingo Perón was exiled in Caracas during the government of Marcos Pérez Jiménez and commented that Sabana Grande was the ideal place to party.[30] Argentina omitted relations with Venezuela through the exile of Juan Domingo Perón in El Rosal.
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Since the 30s and 40s, Sabana Grande has been inhabited by many European immigrants during the governments of Eleazar Lopez Contreras, Isaiah Medina Angarita, Pérez Jiménez and Venezuelan democracy. The meeting places were the open-air cafes in typical Mediterranean style, such as the famous "Piccolo Bar"[56] from the Bolivar Gallery. Said Bar Piccolo was preferred by the Italians of Caracas, becoming frequented by international actresses such as Claudia Cardinale and Brigitte Bardot when they came to Caracas. It also highlights the renowned local Key Club, which was located next to the Banco Mercantil and Banco Agrícola buildings on El Recreo Street. The members of the club entered with a golden key. In the vicinity of El Recreo Street, there were also car dealerships. The construction of the Caracas Metro changed the dynamics the atmosphere of El Recreo Street and the buildings in its surroundings. The school Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe was much larger and had to give up its spaces as Sabana Grande was growing in urban terms.
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This important commercial district of Caracas also had the first two commercial centers of Caracas: The East Shopping Center (on Casanova Avenue) and The Gran Avenida, formerly known as Fifth Avenue Shopping Center.[10] The first one is still open on "Avenida Casanova" and the second one was located at the exit of the Metro Plaza Venezuela, where the bus stop to San Antonio de Los Altos is located. The East Sabana Grande Shopping Center was built by the architect Diego Carbonell, with a ring of shops around a central parking lot separate from the street, which meant that some stores had double access.[10]
The "Abraham Lincoln" Avenue and its surroundings were a cultural center of international level: the so-called Republic of the East brought together artists politicians, writers and characters of all kinds, some of them in scale as the Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez, the writer Henri Charriere (author of the famous Papillon), the haute couture designer Christian Dior and the former president of Argentina Juan Domingo Perón.[57] Arturo Almandoz commented that the fame of Sabana Grande aroused the interest of the great feathers of Latin American literature. The legend of Sabana Grande was so magical that Octavio Paz and Miguel Ángel Asturias refused to visit Caracas without visiting the bohemian Sabana Grande. The myth of the Eastern Republic lasted approximately two decades, between 1968 and 1983. The boulevard changed the dynamics of the area and many of the intellectuals moved to Francisco Solano Avenue, just above the boulevard. Others made life in the Passage La Asunción.[58] Mario Vargas Llosa has also been in Sabana Grande and is remembered in the mythical Book Store of Sabana Grande, which contains book that are more than 3 centuries old. The basements of Pulpería del Libro de Sabana Grande are part of the memory of the average university student in Caracas.[59]
Caracas Metro
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In the eighties, the construction of Caracas Metro brought more people to the financial district of Sabana Grande. Since then, Sabana Grande became a place of mass recreation. The financial district of Sabana Grande has three metro stations: Plaza Venezuela, Sabana Grande and Chacaíto. This district is the best covered by the Caracas Metro. The boulevard of Sabana Grande was built from the surroundings of "La Previsora Tower" to the Plaza Brión de Chacaíto. It should be noted that the Plaza Brión de Chacaíto was built according to the commercial and financial district of Sabana Grande, despite belonging to Chacao Municipality today. As a result of the problems of authority between the Caracas Metro and the Libertador Municipality, the Sabana Grande district lost maintenance and surveillance in the 1990s.[9] In 1994, the Caracas Metro finally granted the administration of the Boulevard of Sabana Grande to the Libertador Municipality of Caracas.[9]
Sabana Grande was the most strategic place for the construction of the Caracas Metro. The land of Sabana Grande was ideal for the construction of the Caracas Metro and the boulevard was built according to the project. As early as 1968, El Nacional suggested that the fate of Avenida Abraham Lincoln was to take the car out of its territory to give it to the pedestrian. On February 27, 1968, a whole page was dedicated to show the results of the experiment to close the vehicular passage during a whole weekend. The Caracas Metro was an ambitious work of Venezuelan democracy and one of the great achievements of Venezuelan engineering. Francisco Lara García of construction C. Metro de Caracas, said in El Nacional on May 25, 1981, that the Boulevard of Sabana Grande was the victim of improvisation. These statements have justified the repeated renovations that the boulevard has experienced throughout its history. The works of the Caracas Metro and the Boulevard of Sabana Grande were truly complicated by the geography and topography of Caracas. The technical problems that arose as a result of the project were numerous. Not everyone agreed with the construction of the boulevard and Lara García himself declared that the boulevard would only be an intermediate stage of the Metro de Caracas project.[58][9]
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Unfortunately, Black Friday crisis, the construction of Boulevard of Sabana Grande and Caracas Metro project coincided in time.[9] The economic crisis also hit the sector, until finally it was invaded by the informal economy until 2007. Many ambitious projects in the financial district of Sabana Grande were affected by Black Friday, among them the Moulin Rouge Caracas, located on Avenida Francisco Solano. The Venezuelan crisis of the 80s and the economic recession caused the flop of Moulin Rouge Caracas project. Following the deterioration of the financial district of Sabana Grande in the 90s, Moulin Rouge had to set a new business target in the 00: the bohemian community of Caracas.
In March of 1990, the magazine Exceso wrote that Parish El Recreo (Parroquia El Recreo) could dispute to Beverly Hills the distinction as the place with the highest density of film stars in the world,[60] especially in the vicinity of Francisco Solano López Avenue, Libertador Avenue and La Florida neighborhood. Because of its proximity to Venevision and Globovision,[61] Sabana Grande has concentrated a large number of artists, musicians, actors, painters, businessmen, etc. It still remains so, even though a considerable part of the artistic movement has moved to the Chacao Municipality since the nineties, following the success of Irene Sáez.[62]
In the nineties, significant steps were taken to improve the environment of Sabana Grande. The Mayor of the Libertador Municipality launched in 96 the project "Isla del Este" (East Island), which consisted mainly of paving roads, recovering the roads and green areas, reinforcing the police presence, installing street furniture, etc..[16] In 1995, drug addicts and prostitutes had taken over the Boulevard of Sabana Grande and it was necessary to execute a plan to recover the roads and green areas of the district. According to Gladys Morín:
The situation was so serious that in 1995, an agreement was made between the Municipality of Libertador Municipality, informal associations and the Association of Neighbors of Sabana Grande, which agreed to let the peddlers work in the place of Tuesday to Saturday, to occupy on Monday with the cleaning of the site and to leave Sunday as the only day for pedestrians to freely use the space, as published
— Gladys Morín
After solving the differences between the Caracas Metro and the Libertador Municipality of Caracas, new real estate projects were possible in the area, such as: Sabana Grande Business Center, Solano Residential Center (originally designed as a luxury aparthotel), El Recreo Shopping Mall, City Market Shopping Mall, as well as new residential use projects for the middle class. About the Sabana Grande Business Center, the first smart building in the city, Migdalia Nava says:[40]
Around the year 2000, the Sabana Grande Business Center, located in Caracas, was completed, known as the "first intelligent building" in the country, and by that time the project had specially programmed lifts, which were fed with information obtained from daily use, optimizing and even predicting the stops and travel time. Additionally, and as another great novelty for that moment, it was implemented the structured cabling, which allowed enormous flexibility and substantial savings at the time of installing the cabling.
— Migdalia Nava
In the last two years, significant improvements have been seen in Sabana Grande and the commercial and tourist life of the financial district has improved little by little. In 2011, the Boulevard of Sabana Grande was renewed thanks to the rehabilitation process carried out by PDVSA La Estancia. Since 2017, businessmen have started to open medium-high standing stores in the Boulevard of Sabana Grande, as a result of the significant improvements that the sector has reported. These stores are: Balú H&M[13] (three stores),[63] Apolo Shoes[26], Planeta Sports,[25] Angely, AISHOP, Brands Shop (Estivaneli, Alcott, Lefties, Stradivarius, Carpisa, Primadona Pimkie, and more)[27], Mango, Traki and many more. Sabana Grande is the pedestrian space with the best stores in Metropolitan Caracas, even though the locals continue to show a marked preference for shopping malls influenced by New York architects, such as Sambil Caracas. The shopping mall are still perceived as safer and more private places.
Cosa Nostra in Sabana Grande
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The Sicilian Mafia has also operated in Sabana Grande district and hid in its streets for a long time. In the Exceso Magazine, it was published that the Cuntrera-Caruana Mafia clan operated in the city of Caracas, Venezuela. This family clan was for more than thirty years a fugitive from the police of the entire world. In Venezuela, at the beginning of the seventies, the Cuntrera established a business holding that functioned as a sanforized façade for drug trafficking and the laundering of dollars in industrial quantities. Pascuale, Gaspare and Paolo Cuntrera were persecuted by international justice. Isla de Margarita was another important settlement of the Sicilian Mafia in the Venezuela of the 70-90.[64]
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The Sicilian Mafia in Sabana Grande was protected in the 70s, 80s and 90s by powerful people in the Venezuelan political system and in the repressive agencies of the State. Nobody explains how the Cuntrera could obtain Venezuelan nationality being requested by all the governments of the world, which caused that the commissar Jiménez of the Division against Organized Crime of the PTJ began to suspect Pascuale, Gaspare and Paolo. The writer Clarisse Sterling wrote in the book Octopus about the structures and activities of all the Italian mafias, with special emphasis on the Cosa Nostra and its Venezuelan Chapter. The book described the real activities of companies such as Livestock Rio Zapa. The DEA, the FBI, the Department of the North American Treasury and Scotland Yard were behind the mafia groups in Venezuela. The Cuntrera family trafficked with the Asian heroin brought from the golden triangle – Burma, Laos and Thailand – to the European and North American markets, crossing all of Asia and the Middle East, to France, Germany, England and Italy itself.
On May 23, 1992 Giovanni Falcone was killed. Falcone and Paolo Borsellino previously requested the extradition of the Cuntrera mafia group to the Venezuelan Executive, which caused a scandal in Venezuela. This request was shelved and rejected. Falcone was insisting on the extradition of the Cuntrera and this cost him his life. The Venezuelan government alleged that this family was legally established in the country. The Cuntrera managed to nationalize themselves as Venezuelan citizens through unorthodox procedures, in the first years of their exile in Caracas. Commissioner Jiménez managed to get all the necessary evidence to prove the illegitimacy of the credentials of naturalization of this Italian family. The Hotel Odeón in Sabana Grande was one of their favorite meeting places, located in the neighborhood San Antonio. The cafés located on the Boulevard of Sabana Grande were also frequented by members of the Sicilian Mafia and their friends, especially to go unnoticed.[64] Commissioner Guillermo Jiménez (former PTJ, now CICPC) was recognized as a hero of the new Venezuelan era in the 1990s for having helped capture several members of the Sicilian Mafia in Caracas, Venezuela.
The Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States demanded that Venezuela hand over the Cuntrera and threatened the Caribbean nation with "a military incursion" on Caracas if it did not surrender to the three gangsters.[65] Then, Venezuela expelled another 50 members of the clan linked to the Sicilian mafia.[66] More than 38 companies were seized for functioning as facades for drug trafficking and money laundering, within the Colombia-Venezuela-Canada-Sicily connection. It is striking that former Christian Socialist President Luis Herrera Campins, attended the wedding of one of the daughters of the Cuntrera, held in a luxurious Caracas hotel where international Mafia leaders like John Gotti and the Gambino from New York met[66]. The director of the Judicial Technical Police, Mauro Yáñez Pasarella, also announced that any foreign person who appears linked to the clan Cuntrera-Caruana was going to be deported immediately.[66] The news impacted the whole world.[67]
Bohemia. LGBT district.
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Sabana Grande has historically been one of the few bohemian and heterogeneous zones in Caracas. In Latin American literature, Sabana Grande in Caracas has been compared to Las Ramblas and Chueca in Spain, the Champs Élysée in France and Times Square in New York. Sabana Grande has constantly mutated throughout its history and its facade has not always been the same. The history of Sabana Grande has mixed traits of chic, bohemian and social mobility. It is a district that has been strongly marked by the booms and economic crises of Venezuela. Sabana Grande has been the mix of so many different people who have found the same place to express themselves.[58] Sabana Grande has been the bohemian district of Caracas and it has had many ups and downs in its history. El Maní es Así, better known as "Templo de la Salsa", has been visited by Celia Cruz and Oscar de León.
Sabana Grande was considered by some writers of Latin America as the homeland of bohemians. For decades, there have been many urban tribes and intellectuals who passed through Sabana Grande to leave their mark on the city of Caracas. It has been said that a parallel republic was formed in Sabana Grande. The East Republic of Sabana Grande seemed to have little to do with Miraflores Palace, the Altamira neighborhood or the Caracas Country Club. The bohemian movement of Sabana Grande has had a special character that historically distinguished it from the rest of the city and has made it the center of emerging cultural movements.[58] La Pastora, La Candelaria (Fine Arts), Chacao and Caricuao have also had important Bohemian movements.
It is important to mention that the first Venezuelan gay pride march took place in Sabana Grande (June 1997).[31] As the most bohemian and heterogeneous place in the city, the LGBT community expressed itself in Sabana Grande district. El Colegio Street, Villaflor Street, Pasaje La Asunción, Las Flores Street and Las Acacias Avenue have been emblematic places in the history of the gay community of Caracas. Pasaje Asunción has had the darkest and most interesting legends throughout the district. Today, Villaflor Street is the main gay street of the city for the lower middle class gay citizens. According to the most conservative classes of Venezuelan society, gays hurt the social environment of Sabana Grande. Upper middle class citizens prefer to party in Cool Café La Castellana.
Prostitution in Caracas
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In the decade of the 50, as a result of the boom of the construction that generated great rates of economic growth in Venezuela, many immigrants arrived at the Venezuelan coasts. According to the report of October 5, 1958, Venezuela had the highest rate of foreign prostitution in the entire world.[68] The prostitutes took the buildings that were inhabited by middle-class families based in Caracas. A small club in the Los Andes building on Las Acacias Avenue (Sabana Grande district) was once very popular in Caracas. This place was called "El Rinconcito de Ella", which opened its doors at midnight . The start show was presented at 0:05 am. The most important dancers were: Silvia Ross, Lolita Santos and Juanita Moreno. The queen of the night was Graciela Moreno (sister of Juanita), one of the most charming vedettes of twentieth century Caracas. Other important centers of prostitution in Caracas were Las Acacias, El Rosal, Chacao and the historic center of Caracas.[68] The vedettes "Moreno" of Sabana Grande began their career in Chile and then came to Venezuela. The most famous pimps in Caracas were: Joaquín Peláez Grau (Cuban), Santurjo (Spanish) and Jacobo Miguel (Colombian). The latter was the owner of the Hotel Nacional, one of the most famous brothels in Caracas. One fact that shocked Venezuela at that time was the air crash of a flight from Panama City to Maracaibo, to the El Patio Andaluz brothel in the Zulia capital, which had nothing to do with the brothel that bore the same name in Caracas. The flight is remembered as the flight "of the blond women". Some prostitutes did not stay forever in Venezuela. For example, the prostitute Manón returned to Uruguay in the wake of the economic crisis in Venezuela in the 1980s.[68]
The Dutch Jenie Soep Bamberger was one of the most important businesswomen in the prostitution business in Caracas. Madame Jenie arrived in Caracas in 1953 with her husband. The couple of Europeans set up two nightclubs that became cultural icons of prostitution in Venezuela: MadameClub in Los Caobos neighborhood (Plaza Venezuela) and an art gallery located on San Antonio Street in Sabana Grande. The Dutch woman lived in the Los Andes Building in the Sabana Grande district and from there directed the international prostitution network in Venezuela. The Versailles was another place of the Madame that was located in the Sabana Grande business district, but this time in the 70s. Juan Domingo Perón also managed a trafficking network of prostitutes in Venezuela. The partners of Juan Domingo Perón in the Venezuelan prostitution business were Fulgencio Batista and Rafael Leonidas Trujillos, who also controlled networks which provided sex workers. The Cuban and the Dominican intervened from their government palaces through third parties.[68]
An international mafia run from Marseilles (France) sent prostitutes to Venezuelan cities such as Caracas, Maracaibo, Puerto La Cruz, Punto Fijo and Ciudad Bolivar. In Europe, most prostitutes had Venezuela as their target. The leader of this mafia was Jean Auffret, also known as Jean Killing and his mafia had important ramifications in Italy and Argentina, mainly in Buenos Aires. In the Caracas of the 40, the 50 and the 60, the French, Spanish, Cuban and Argentine, competed for the lavish clientele with the wealth, to which they had access thanks to the growing administrative corruption in Venezuela. Politicians, military men and businessmen frequented the night spots of Las Acacias Avenue in San Antonio de Sabana Grande neighborhood, Francisco de Miranda Avenue in Chacao district and Presidente Medina Avenie in Acacias neighborhood (San Pedro), in which the very famous Quinta Pola was located.[68] Casanova Avenue also had its reputation for prostitutes who frequented the area, until the end of the 90s, when Gran Meliá Caracas and El Recreo Shopping Mall improved the nearby area.[69]
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The Cediaz Shopping Center in Sabana Grande financial district has also housed luxury brothels in its facilities, even though the business target has varied over time. "The Diplomat" and "The Pompon" were the names of some of the luxury brothels that existed in the area. The Pompon of the Cediaz Shopping Center was very famous for its Deloffre style and opened at noon like an ordinary restaurant; at night the place showed its mischievous facade. In the "Galerías Bolívar" building, today the headquarters of important business offices in Caracas, Manón Club was located, which stood out for its fine selection of women of different nationalities. In this establishment, a Colombian with a specular body was very famous among the businessmen in Venezuela, whose name as a sex worker was Melania. After a while, Melania married a rich rancher. In Las Flores Street in Sabana Grande there was also an important brothel, whose owner was Víctor Almeida. Today, Sabana Grande continues to be a major center of prostitution and in the first weeks of 2018, the police captured the members of the band "The Sugar Babies", who recruited minors in the Boulevard of Sabana Grande, which were forced to have sex with Asian entrepreneurs in Caracas.[70]
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Since the eighties,[71] the Libertador Avenue of Caracas (on the border between Sabana Grande and other neighborhoods) has been an important center of prostitution, especially of transsexual women. In the nineties, Juan Carvallo wrote in the Exceso Magazine that the Francisco Solano López Avenue and the Libertador Avenue were the main centers for transsexual prostitution in Caracas. In the Solano Lopez they took their first steps and then passed to Libertador Avenue after being hormonized. La Solano was the avenue of effeminate men who began to explore their more feminine side and the Liberator was the space for those who had already crossed the barrier. To protect themselves from the police, network created by the prostitutes with the taxi drivers who worked in the area, who warned if any police were in the nearby area.[72] The defense organization included a slang, a code language and a special dialect. The situation did not change in the following years. The pendular economic crises of the country made life more difficult for them since they often lived on the street. Despite the differences the prostitutes have had with the new neighbors of the buildings of the Great Housing Mission Venezuela, they still remain in the surroundings of Sabana Grande and La Florida, maintaining an important clientele of upper middle-class men. Transsexuals accept CLAP products for their sexual services.[73]
The Francisco Solano López Avenue was once the main meeting point of the homosexual community in Caracas and sexual tourism was one of the main businesses run by taxi drivers in the city[71]. Although transsexuals were also received accepted on the Francisco Solano Avenue, the target of this avenue were the young boys. Betting on the sidewalks, the boys waited for customers of the same age or older.[72] While gay bars have closed with the passage of time on the Francisco Solano Avenue, the Pullman Bar still remains there,[74] in the surroundings of the Oviedo Building, in front of Galerías Bolívar. A few years ago, the bar was refurnished and its new target is the community of bears (gay slang) in Caracas. Despite the decline of tourism in Caracas due to the political crisis in Venezuela, Pullman Bar remains one of the main options for LGBT visitors.[75] SSabana Grande stands out as the most gay friendly neighborhood in Caracas[75], despite the high levels of homophobia in Venezuela.
New projects in Sabana Grande
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The Boulevard of Sabana Grande, after its rehabilitation, has once again become the main place of leisure in Metropolitan Caracas and surpassed Elice Street in Chacao, which previously registered the largest pedestrian flow in the country. The public space has been harmonized again and the Caraqueños of all social strata come to Sabana Grande quite often. Since the year 2017, the Boulevard of Sabana Grande has the presence of medium-high standing stores such as: Balú H&M[23] (three stores in the boulevard and four stores in the whole district), Apolo Shoes[26], Planeta Sports (Levi's),[25] AISHOP, Brands Shop (Estivaneli, Alcott, Lefties, Stradivarius, Carpisa, Primadona Pimkie, and more)[27], Mango, Traki, Angely, Pavitas and many more. For investors, the public space in the financial district of Sabana Grande currently has a high commercial value, especially on the boulevard and its picturesque cross streets. The Boulevard of Sabana Grande is the only public space in the city that has the presence of Balú H&M, whose target is the middle and upper-middle classes of Caracas. The rest of the stores are located in closed shopping centers in the city, such as Sambil Chacao, San Ignacio, El Recreo, Lider and Tolón. Planeta Sports is another store that has opened on the Boulevard of Sabana Grande.[25]
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The refurbishment of the Sabana Grande financial district is not over yet. PDVSA La Estancia carried out important work to improve the appearance of the Boulevard of Sabana Grande, but the project also includes Avenida Casanova and Avenida Solano. This project has represented a great opportunity for the recovery of public space in Caracas. The possibilities of prologuing the Boulevard of Sabana Grande to the vault of the fountain of Plaza Venezuela have been examined, in order to interconnect in a physical and functional way these two major urban landmarks that are currently disarticulated. The project has sought to achieve a pedestrian connection and solve the multiple conflicts in the section of the Grand Avenue of Sabana Grande.[77]
The comprehensive project seeks to recondition the three main avenues of the sector and harmonize the environment. The Sabana Grande financial district is not just the boulevard but Avenida Solano and Avenida Casanova (which could be named after Manuel Vicente Casanova). Previously it was said that the boulevard was commercial, the Solano of bars and restaurants and the Casanova of bad life. Regrettably, Casanova Avenue had a bad reputation due to the proliferation of prostitutes, local and foreign drug traffickers (the Cuntrera family in Venezuela[64]), brothels, etc. El Recreo Shopping Mall and Gran Meliá Caracas Hotel have given Casanova Avenue a better reputation, but still not enough. Avenida Solano continues to have a more ´pleasant, commercial, financial and gastronomic atmosphere.[38]
List of pending tasks in the financial district of Sabana Grande:
- The Boulevard of Sabana Grande, Gran Avenida, Plaza Venezuela and Parque Los Caobos may be linked anytime soon in a pedestrian road. The sidewalks will be enlarged to reaffirm the prominence of the pedestrian and the bikeway project will be continued
- The intervention and the pedestrianization of the adjoining plots in Borges Street.
- El Rosal transportation center.
- Recycling museum in Plaza Brión de Chacaíto, end of Boulevard of Sabana Grande.
- Coffee museum. Gran Avenida of Los Caobos (Plaza Venezuela).
- Reconditioning of Casanova Avenue and reconditioning of Solano Avenue. The reconditioning of Casanova could be more urgent, since Avenida Solano has much more commercial and gastronomic life than Casanova.
- SEBIN of Los Caobos (Plaza Venezuela) may have a square with bus stations in some years. It is planned that offices will be rented in the future building.
- As a road solution, the rearrangement to the parking lot of El Recreo Shopping Mall stands out, which represents a conflict where crossings converge in different directions. A restriction measure has been proposed in the access, translated into one entrance and one exit, both in the south. The implementation of a regulatory mechanism, such as a curb or bollards has been proposed. The project has the support of the representatives of El Recreo Shopping Mall.
- Renacer project, which will be located between Union Street and Villaflor Street in the Sabana Grande financial district. Two new buildings have been proposed: Casanova Business Center and Renacer Building, which will be significant to the intensification of employment density in the sector. The gastronomic building could create a new attraction on Casanova Avenue.
- Bello Monte Norte Complex.
- Oil complex in the vicinity of Las Delicias Square in Sabana Grande.
- School of arts and crafts in the Oramas Building in Bello Monte, very deteriorated today.
- Cultural complex in Quinta Primavera of Las Delicias neighborhood in Sabana Grande.
Heritage
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Culture and architecture
The Boulevard of Sabana Grande has been partially restored and houses places and buildings of historical, cultural and patrimonial value. Many of them have been considered some of the most important building of modern Venezuelan architecture (twentieth century). Among the most important buildings and commercial passages are: America Tower (headquarters of important national and international companies), Mercantil y Agrícola Banking Building[30], Banco Unión Building, Continental Building, Oasis Tower, Residential Center Solano, Permontsa Building, Camurí Building, Banco Metropolitano Building, 3H Building, Banco Unión Building, Radio City cinema, Univel Building, Banco de Crédito Venezolano Building, Bank of Venezuela building, Centrum Tower,[78] Sabana Grande Business Center, the Eastern Theater, Banco Plaza Tower, the old Shell Bomb, Los Andes building, Radio City cinema, and others. Some streets, passages and establishments are part of the urban memory of Caracas, such as: El Recreo Street, El Colegio Street, Galerías Bolivar Building, Pasaje Asunción and others (better known today as Callejon de la Puñalada and before as Callejon de la Teja Rodada[30]). The "Mercantil y Agrícola" Banking Building was once the headquarters of the Key Club.[30]
Some of the architects of the buildings located in the district have been recognized worldwide, such as: Manuel Salazar Domínguez (Los Andes Building),[79] Clifford Wendehack (Gran Sabana Building, headquarters of William Phelps Ornithological Collection),[80][81] José Miguel Galia (Banco Mercantil Building, Metropolitan Bank Building, Polar Complex and The East Theater),[82][83] Francisco Pimentel,[84] Narciso Bárcenas,[85] Marcel Brauer,[86] Juan Félix Quiroz (Inmaculada Concepción de María Church),[87] Bernardo Borges[84], Oscar Capiello[84], Ariel Cohén Waxsman[78], Emile Vestuti[82][10], Carlos Goméz de Llarena,[88] Carlos Raúl Villanueva,[89] Mauro Trotta,[90] Moisés Benacerraf,[88] Jorge Romero Gutiérrez,[41] Alfredo Himiob,[44] Dirk Bornhorst[41], Rafael Bergamin,[91] Pedro Neuberger[41], Mario Breto[82], Santos Valdes[44], Pablo Lasala[90], Rupert Joaquin[44], Enrique Feldman,[92] Carlos Guinand Sandoz[10], Michelle Benko,[93] Alfonso Duro[93], Ana Lasala[90], Isabel Lasala[90], Dale Badgely[91], Silvia Lasala[90], lvaro Sanz[93], Juan Carlos Parilli[82], Francisco Arocha[82] and more.
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Unfortunately, the registration of all the properties has not been carried out and it is necessary to perform an exhaustive investigation that will allow to determine which were the architects of all the important constructions. Until then, it is still unknown who designed the Araure Building located on the Boulevard of Sabana Grande, even though it was declared an Architectural Heritage of Caracas. Most of the architectural heritage of Sabana Grande dates back to the 20th century, although some buildings from the 19th century stand out, such as the Immaculate Conception Church of El Recreo. In 2007, it was calculated that approximately 20 percent of the buildings in Sabana Grande could be intervened or demolished, in order to adapt the district to the new times.[16]
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The Residential Center Solano of Francisco Pimentel, Oscar Capiello and Bernardo Borges (built in 1998) won the Biennial Award for Architecture. The work Centro Residencial Solano has been compared with international urban developments in cities such as Bogotá, Panamá and Barcelona,[94] which had originally been planned as an aparthotel for large executives in Caracas, but ended up being a residential complex for the middle and upper middle classes.[95] The Solano Residential Center has stood out for the way in which it managed to satisfactorily insert a large density of housing in a space with commercial vocation.[84] In urban terms, the compact integration of private and collective spaces, of transition and of permanence stands out. The apartments are repeated serially and in a mirror[84]. It is also relevant to mention that the El Recreo Shopping Mall, the work of Carlos Gómez de Llarena and Moisés Benacerraf,[88] is the deepest construction in all of Latin America (28 meters and 7 floors below) and was a milestone in the construction.[96]
The helipad of the Sabana Grande Business Center (Centro Empresarial Sabana Grande) is one of the most impressive in Caracas, whose architect was Francisco Pimentel. The Sabana Grande Business Center is the headquarters of Petrocaribe, PDVSA La Estancia and many other important companies. The helipad of the Sabana Grande Business Center is one of the most impressive in Caracas, a masterpiece created by Francisco Pimentel, Oscar Capiello and Bernardo Borges. The Tower of this business complex was promoted as the first smart building in Caracas.[97] Eastern Business Center (Centro Empresarial del Este) was one of the most memorable masterpieces created by Jorge Romero Gutiérrez, Pedro Neuberger and Dirk Bornhorst.[41] This business complex has Turkish baths, premises for exhibitions, bars, restaurants, gyms and swimming pools. Today, it houses clubs for the gay community.
Enrique Feldman was the architect of the large executive residential complex Pórtico Del Este and the technological shopping center City Market,[58] one of the most popular nowadays. Unión Street of Sabana Grande boasts the title of being the only street in the district that was not invaded by the informal economy in the time of buhonerismo. The Centrum Tower, one of the most emblematic buildings of the district, was designed by the architect Ariel Cohén Waxsman[78]. Unión Street has historically been the cleanest of Sabana Grande.[38] El Recreo Street has been the busiest and most commercial street of the district. Located on Calle El Street, Banco Mercantil y Agrícola Building had the first penthouse in Caracas. The building had once artworks made by Alejandro Otero.[98]
The Sabana Grande financial district is of great importance for the political history of Venezuela in the 20th century. The Republic of the East (located in Sabana Grande) brought together important left-wing intellectuals from Latin America,[18] who planned their political strategies in the several cafés and restaurants of the area. Sabana Grande was the origin of twentieth-century Venezuelan bipartisan democracy, since the Puntofijo Pact was signed at the residence of Rafael Caldera. David Lazo said that Sabana Grande was the neighborhood of Latin American culture and bohemia.[99] Several groups of intellectuals, politicians, writers and artists also met in the space that was known as "the Bermuda Triangle",[100] located between the restaurants Franco, El Vechio Moulino and Camilo. Caupolicán Ovalles, one of the most prominent intellectuals of the area, requested that the Venezuelan Government, during the administration of Carlos Andrés Pérez, to pay him a salary, in addition to covering the expenses of his drinks Salvador Garmendia was one of the frequent visitors of Sabana Grande.[100]
Gastronomy
Sabana Grande is also home to important Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Oriental restaurants (Chinese, Lebanese, Syrian and others) very famous, such as La Huerta, Urrutia, Caserio, Da Guido, Haras Grill, L'Albufera, El Rugantino, Mandarin House, Mediterráneo, San Martino, Franco and many others; as well as shops and bookstores that evoke some of the most interesting episodes of the political, social and cultural history of Venezuela.[101] In the nearby area of the Boulevard of Sabana Grande, fast food restaurants such as El Arabito, Pizzeria Va Bene, La Poma, Mc Donald's, Gelato, Arturo's, KFC, El Rey del Sujuk, Capricho, Golfeados de Antaño, Tuéstalo, Helados El Recreo and many others are popular. Avenida Francisco Solano López is the one with the best culinary offerings in the entire sector and has the most exclusive restaurants, while the Casanova Avenue stands out for Gran Meliá Caracas Hotel, El Recreo Shopping Center and El Arabito, now a fast food restaurant. Sabana Grande is a transit area that connects the center and east of Caracas. Many restaurants are located here because of its strategic location.[102][18][69]
Open-air museum
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The boulevard of Sabana Grande houses an important number of artworks, among which the following sculptures stand out: Tres Rebanadas en Cubo (2011) by Vicente Antonorsi; Los Petroleros (2010) by Beatriz Blanco; Tajatí (1990) by Lía Bermúdez; Infinite Column (2009) by Joel Casique; Anemoi (2008) by Alberto Cavalieri; Propuesta No. 1 (2011) by Felix George; Columna Barroca (1995) by Carlos Medina;[103] Circuits (2010) by Rafael Rangel; Boceto para un Bosque (2009) by Sydia Reyes; Libélula (2002) by Luis Prada Colón; Tributo a las Orquetas Venezolanas (2009) by Daniel Suárez; Corintio (2004) by Zerep and more. Murals: Circuitos Jazz Color (2011) by J. J. Moros; Alfabeto plástico tricolor (2011) by Víctor Gil; El Pozo y las ocho estrellas (2007) by Paúl del Río; Atardecer en los campos petroleros by Ernesto León; Sinfonía by Josefina Rondón.[104] Graffiti is also found in the following spaces: Pasaje Asunción[105] and Calle Baldó. PDVSA La Estancia did an important job in Sabana Grande to connect art with the public spaces of Caracas.[106] In Sabana Grande some sculptures have been removed and new ones have been added in recent years. Some of these artists have had great international fame.[103]
In Caracas, the boulevard of Sabana Grande is an option to walk several meters among sculptures.[107] In Sabana Grande some sculptures have been removed and new ones have been added in recent years. The artwork "Volumen" by Francisco Narváez was not located in Sabana Grande at the time of the rehabilitation,[108] but was later included in the urban and artistic furniture of the place. Many of these sculptures have been intervened, modified and altered over time, since they suffer a high degree of wear and tear because they are located in such a heavily commercial public space. PDVSA La Estancia has condemned the acts of vandalism that have been carried out against the works of art located on the boulevard of Sabana Grande.[109] The works "Tajatí" and "Proposal #1" are some of the artworks that were removed from the boulevard of Sabana Grande.[110] Although the police presence increased in the first months of the year 2018 in Sabana Grande,[111] it is still necessary to increase public awareness of the artistic and architectural heritage of the boulevard of Sabana Grande.[112] The police should suppress any attempt at vandalism and apply severe sanctions against those who alter the works without authorization.[111]
Music
Since the mid-twentieth century, the sector Sabana Grande has had great importance for Venezuelan music, especially by the rock bands who have frequented the area for several years.[113] The Venezuelan group Sentimiento Muerto became popular in this district and was formerly known as Death Feeling.[22] In Sabana Grande emerged important bands of punk, pop rock, heavy metal, etc. The main ideology of most of these emerging groups was the anarchy.[114] The main inspiration of the punk movement of Sabana Grande were the bands The Clash, Sex Pistols, Ramones and Black Flag, which impacted the fifteen-year-olds of upper and middle class. One of the most important urban tribes in the sector were Los Anticristo and Los Gladiadores. The latter was famous for showing off their bodies in the vicinity of the Boulevard of Sabana Grande. The Venezuelan pop rock artist Melissa also became popular in this sector and recorded her video "Noches Eternas" between the neighborhoods El Rosal and Sabana Grande.[115]
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In recent years, the "tuky" movement emerged in Venezuela. The tukys have also taken the Sabana Grande district, although it also has a presence in areas such as Propatria, Caricuao and Los Palos Grandes.[20] The origins of this sociocultural phenomenon in Caracas are still being studied and there is no consensus on its definition. In any case, the tuky movement seems to visualize the reality of a sector of the Venezuelan population that had been ignored and marginalized.[19] The main artists of the changa tuky genre have appeared in spaces such as the Chacaíto Shopping Mall and the City Market Shopping Mall.[20] Although these artists are little understood by the middle and upper classes of Venezuela, they have been recognized in countries such as Italy, Spain and Portugal.[20]
It is commented that "Sabana Grande sabe de repúblicas"[20] because a great diversity of artists and heterogeneous elements have coexisted throughout its history. Even though the popularization of the sector has moved a specific sector away,[18] the area is still very rich in culture and dynamic. In spite of the arrival of the tukys in Sabana Grande, the rock bands have not left the spaces and frequently appear in the area.[116][21] The City Market Shopping Center continues to target the alternative and rock communities of the city, although on a few occasions it has opened its doors to the artists of the Tukky movement.[20] Before suffering a cerebral infarct in 2009, the Argentine musician Gustavo Cerati of the Soda Stereo Band, had gone out to party at the Bohemian club Moulin Rouge, located on Francisco Solano López Avenue in Sabana Grande.[8] Most of the bands that appear in the City Market Shopping Center are metal bands.[117][118][119]
William Phelps Ornithological Museum
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The William Phelps Foundation has an important collection located on the Boulevard of Sabana Grande. The Phelps Foundation has been recognized worldwide for its scientific research.[120] Since 1937, this foundation is dedicated to the study of the distribution of birds in Venezuela as well as to the dissemination of ornithology in Venezuela. Since 1949, it has expanded globally in its mission to discover, interpret and disseminate information about ornithology through a program of scientific research, education and dissemination in the natural sciences. The Foundation has had an important global trajectory for which it is recognized and is a regional compulsory study resource on tropical birds for experts who want to know more about this topic.[120] This museum has historically been connected to the American Museum of Natural History, thanks to the work of Billy Phelps.[121] The ornithological collection has also been extended thanks to the research carried out with Armando Dugand from Bogotá, Colombia. . Most of the funds to carry out these investigations were collected by the Phelps Foundation.[122]
In March and April 1977, the Phelps Ornithological Collection, with the collaboration of the Venezuelan-Brazilian Joint Boundary Commission, made a collection of birds at Cerro Urutaní (62 ° 05'W, 3 ° 40'N), a tepui low altitude on the Venezuelan-Brazilian border in the Sierra Pacaraima. A total of 511 specimens of birds were collected between 1150 and 1280 meters high s.n.m., representing 78 different species. Gilberto Pérez Chinchilla, Manuel Castro and Dickerman prepared the exemplaress. A full report on these birds was published in the international press and was published in the Bulletin of the "American Museum of Natural History", New York. For the investigations, it was necessary to work in conjunction with the Boundary Directorate of Venezuela.[123]
The museum of the William Phelps ornithological collection has an extensive ornithological library as well as a Historical Archive with material of interest for the study of the Venezuelan avifauna. The material and all the information available in our headquarters are at the service of the people interested in the study, research and expansion of the study of avifauna in Venezuela.[120] In the library there are also important objects and documents about the life of William Phelps in Caracas. An important collection of maps is part of your files and has not yet been indexed. For the year 1990, it was commented that the William Phelps Ornithological Collection already contained more than 76,300 skins and a small number of anatomical specimens, in the Gran Sabana Building of Sabana Grande.[121] In 1990, the Phelps library in the Boulevard of Sabana Grande already had 6,000 books, 800 magazines and 5,500 reprints, mostly from the natural sciences.[121] This collection has continued to grow since then and in 2018 it still holds the title of being the most important ornithological collection in Latin America.[124] It has also been the largest ornithological private collection in the entire world.[121]
The Gran Sabana Building, owned by the Phelps family, was designed by the architect Clifford Wendehack, with the help of Gustavo Marturet and Carlos Machado Zuloaga.[80] The upper body of the building is set back from the seventh floor and then in the eighth, finishing with railings in balustrades and metal grid, similar to the first level. The unevenness of the land allows the access of services by the back and the development of another level down.[80] The Gran Sabana Building is considered architectural heritage of Caracas and responds to the historical need of a thriving city in its development towards modernity in the mid-fifties.[80] The architect who designed this building was well known by the design of mansions in luxury clubs, such as the Caracas Country Club, very close to the Sabana Grande district.[81]
Urban Forest El Porvenir
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El Porvenir Urban Forest was designed and built by PDVSA La Estancia, on the land that was previously occupied by the cemetery of the town of Sabana Grande. Nowadays, the Urban Forest is located in a space of 1400 square kilometers in the urbanization La Florida, at the limit point with the neighborhoods "La Campiña" and "Sabana Grande. From 1879 to 1890, the area served as a cemetery for the rural hamlet of Sabana Grande. This cemetery was created two years after El Recreo was erected as an ecclesiastical parish. In 1940, the space was converted into the La Florida Urban Forest and was a place of recreation until 1990. The buildings that were used as a police module were demolished to give the park greater visual appeal. The inventory and botanical cataloging of the preexisting flora in the park was also carried out: Araguaney, Búcaro, Ceiba and ornamental plants: La Azalea, La Cayena and Jasmine. After the opening of the El Porvenir Urban Forest, various cultural activities have been carried out, among which stand out: yoga classes, fairs, vaccination days and open-air cinema.[125]
This recreational space is intended for the contemplation of botanical species, birds, faunas and works of art. The forest is considered an urban ascription in the area of Sabana Grande interference and was rehabilitated in 2012 by PDVSA La Estancia and the competent institutions in the area. The residents of the nearby urbanizations and the new neighbors of the Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela participated in the project. This urban forest is currently located on the street El Porvenir of the La Florida neighborhood and has parking for bicycles, green areas, a system for film screening, drinking fountains, public telephones, floating walkways (decks), continuous paved pavement, free wifi service, etc. Among the artworks, there is a sculpture of Delozanne and murals of Ernesto León and Josefina Rondón.[125]
![](../I/m/Sabana_Grande_Caracas._Bulevar_de_Sabana_Grande._Calle_Baldo%2C_PDVSA_La_Estancia_Arte._Tienda_Planeta_Sports_Vicente_Quintero_09.jpg)
According to the archaeologist Anibal Carballo, the Caracas City Council received a petition from the presbyter Juan José Bolet of the Immaculate Conception Church of El Recreo, who requested some of the land of the parish to be given to the residents to build a cemetery, invoking an ancient ecclesial right that allowed the establishment of graveyards next to the parish churches. Although the General Cemetery of the South had been inaugurated in the year 1876 as a result of the hygienist question and the rise of the miasmatic theory,[126] the inhabitants of Caracas resisted these changes and rejected the idea of burying their relatives there. They believed they were secularizating the act of burying the deceased. That is why, through the Agreement of the Municipal Council of Caracas of July 12, 1877,[127] all the cemeteries of Caracas were reopened. The conservative sectors of the city and the Catholic Church did not accept the liberal reforms of Guzmán Blanco.[128]
Prior to the rehabilitation process of Urban Forest (former cemetery of Sabana Grande), excavations were carried out. These excavations allowed to perform some archaeological studies in the area that was once a cemetery. Two exploratory coves of 1 meter square and variable depth were made; and the results gave rise to three excavations and a rescue with uncontrolled stratigraphy of a set of bone remains exposed during the works. As a result of the excavations, the existence of perimeter walls of bricks and boulders was determined. Remains were also recovered from the tangible and material culture of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century associated with the cemetery of Sabana Grande. In one of the wells, two meters deep, human remains were found. It was determined that it was a primary, indirect and extended burial of an adult male individual.[125]
The excavations determined that the burials could have been done to half a meter of depth and oriented with his head towards the west. For this reason, it is believed that the main access to the cemetery should have been located in what is now known as Pedroza Street in the La Campiña neighborhood. It should be noted that Negrín Street was the oldest access to what was known as the El Recreo Temple. The remains found in the area were buried indirectly, possibly with the use of a coffin and in an extended form. A faint residual trace drew the outline of the urn, as well as some recovered nails. They also managed to excavate buttons, fragments of English porcelain, stencils, hand-painted, fragments of stoneware bottles and Dutch glass bottles.[129]
Zona Rental
![](../I/m/Torre_SEBIN_Caracas%2C_antiguo_proyecto_Metro_de_Caracas_Vicente_Quintero.jpg)
For several decades, it was planned that the Zona Rental area (between the San Antonio de Sabana Grande and Los Caobos developments) would be the new modern center of the city.[130][131] The land of the Rental Zone are the only one that remains available for a large-scale urban project in the city of Caracas.[132] The Andrés Bello Foundation (FAB) is the body that administers these lands, whose owner is the Central University of Venezuela. The UCV, chaired by the architect and former dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Marco Negrón, the FAB opened the bidding process at the end of the 90s. The lands of the area called Zona Rental have been considered ideal for construction of a great cultural, recreational, hotel and commercial complex. For the city, the development of the Rental Zone represents an important contribution, since it was deliberately given to the public space a privileged place, with its own image according to the established design. The experts determined that the Central Plaza will cover an area of 38,500 square meters and the elevated plaza will have an area of 5 thousand square meters[130]. Zona Rental will also have a boulevard, which will be called "Olimpo". The Olimpo boulevard will begin at Avenida Casanova and will have morphological and functional features similar to those of the Boulevard of Sabana Grande, even though it will be much shorter. The Rental Building of the sector was designed by the Venezuelan architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva in the middle of the 20th century and has not yet been completed.[130]
Investor groups from France, Brazil and Germany have shown interest in the Zona Rental project, which has the potential to further reactivate the Sabana Grande area. The project includes: a shopping center of 139 thousand square meters, an aparthotel[132], the Metro Tower of Caracas (completed, now headquarters of the SEBIN), two towers of corporate offices or institutions, 5-star Conference Hotel, 4-star Hotel Olimpo, Art Galleries, Private Transportation Terminal, Commercial Galleries, an Art and Entertainment Center, an Events Center,[133] and more.[133] The Central Plaza of the project is the main urban development project in Caracas and in the 2000–2010 decade important competitions were opened to select the artworks[134] that would harmonize the surroundings of what will be the new center of Caracas. The architects Francisco Pimentel and Oscar Capiello were the winners of the contest for the two hotels of Zona Rental,[135] which could have a design quite similar to the Millenium Shopping Mall in Los Dos Caminos neighborhood. According to Pimentel and Capiello, the draft is already well developed.[135] It is expected that the National Executive and the private company coordinate actions to continue the works. Also, the winners of the contest for the Zona Rental shopping center were Mendoza, Dávila and Gómez de Llarena.[131] The latter was the architect of the El Recreo Shopping Mall and the San Ignacio Center.[88]
Although for the year 2007 the Zona Rental project was still the most important real estate project in Caracas,[16] the project has not advanced due to the ideological and partisan differences of the main political and economic elites of Venezuela. The expropriation of the "Hipermercados Éxito" in Venezuela affected the progress of the project, since the surpluses of the company were going to be invested in the rest of the buildings of the commercial and cultural complex. The ex-President Hugo Chávez intervened the work and decided to open a "Abastos Bicentenario" in the premises of Hipermercados Éxitos, of the French Casino network.[136] According to Chávez, the company illegally increased the price of its products after the government devalued the currency in December 2010.[137] PDVSA La Estancia expects the project to materialize in the medium or long term, given that its strategic location.[138]
Safety
![](../I/m/Sabana_Grande_Caracas_Bulevar_de_Sabana_Grande._El_hombre_del_saxof%C3%B3n._Fotograf%C3%ADa_de_Vicente_Quintero%2C_mayo_2018_01.jpg)
As such a legendary district of Caracas, Sabana Grande has many stories to tell. The financial district of Sabana Grande has had strong ups and downs throughout its history, as a result of its strategic location, easy access, its privileged topography, its strongly commercial nature, the swings of the Venezuelan economy and the crises political-administrative of the Venezuelan political system (Libertador Municipality versus the Caracas Metro).[9] We must take into account that Sabana Grande is considered a huge open-air shopping mall in Caracas with many stores and restaurants. The commercial corridor of the Boulevard of Sabana Grande is visited by more than 500,000 people from Caracas every day and on important dates such as Carnival, up to 3 million Venezuelans may visit the financial district of Sabana Grande. Of course, we are not counting the traffic to Avenida Solano, Avenida Casanova and Avenida Las Acacias. El Recreo Shopping Mall is visited by more than 3 million people every month.[139]
Throughout its history, the district has had several times of glory and decay. The worst moment of Sabana Grande was the era of Hawkers,[9] which lasted a little over 5 years. Since the expulsion of street vendors, the district has slowly recovered. The political and economic crisis has not helped to fully recover the sector. Since the rehabilitation of Boulevard of Sabana Grande, the district has had certain conditions of security and the presence of the Bolivarian National Guard. Thanks to the improvements reported in the commercial and financial district, medium-high-end stores have decided to return to the Boulevard of Sabana Grande. Balú H&M is the great evidence of the new boom in this important area of Caracas and has more than four stores in Sabana Grande (three on the boulevard).[23]
![](../I/m/Solano_Lopez_exclusividad.jpg)
For decades, Sabana Grande has been a very eclectic district: schools of nuns, brothels, shopping centers, clubs for the elite, offices of politicians and mafias have operated here. In 1989, despite holding the title of being the most chic and important commercial area of Caracas (Los Angeles Times),[140] this area scandalized the people of Caracas for the rape and murder of a geologist at the El Recreo headquarters, presumably by the police force of the parish. By then, Venezuela was already described as a terrible country for tourism, according to the Exceso Magazine. In 2007, several minors were raped by soldiers repeatedly in the vicinity of Boulevard of Sabana Grande. In self-defense, the children had no choice but to attack the military that sexually abused them every night.[141] The news scandalized the people of Caracas and the private media did not stop echoing the news for more than a year, sometimes falling into what is known as amarillismo. As it was an isolated case, the commercial life of the district was not affected and the fashion shops of medium-high standing have continued to open imposing stores on the Boulevard of Sabana Grande, which have harmonized the visual environment of the financial district. It should be noted that, Sabana Grande is the only public space in Caracas that has three Balú H&M stores, surpassing the stores of Chacao, Las Mercedes, La Candelaria and El Hatillo. The heart of Sabana Grande has the presence of the embassies of Abkhazia and Chechnya, both related to the Russian Federation. Georgia and Venezuela have unfavorable diplomatic relations because the Caribbean country recognizes the independence of Abkhazia. North of Sabana Grande, in La Florida, is located the Embassy of Greece.
![](../I/m/Bulevar_de_Sabana_Grande_Caracas_Venezuela_2018_Edificio_Banco_Metropolitano_y_Edificio_3H_2.jpg)
In concrete and percentage terms, crime in Sabana Grande could actually be lower than in other districts (number of daily visitors divided by the number of incidents reported). A little-traveled residential area does not have the same dynamic as a busy commercial zone. In Sabana Grande, pickpockets are very common, but assaults by motorcycle drivers and kidnappings are rarer than in other districts of the city. However, to really improve the conditions of the Sabana Grande district, it is necessary that the Venezuelan middle class thrive. A thriving middle class is the glory of Sabana Grande. Sabana Grande has been planned as an open, heterogeneous, commercial, cosmopolitan and inclusive zone. It is a modern and inclusive city project that has been threatened by the social and economic crises that Venezuela has suffered since the 20th century. The other commercial districts of Caracas are more private and intimate than Sabana Grande. Luxury-hotels like Gran Meliá Caracas are completely safe. Patrolling is frequent in El Recreo, specifically in the surroundings of Francisco Solano López Avenue, the Boulevard of Sabana Grande and Gran Meliá Caracas Hotel.[142][143]
Sabana Grande has been one of the most commercial areas of Caracas for several decades. For this reason, Sabana Grande has many characteristics that differentiate it from a merely residential neighborhood.[101] The Sabana Grande district was designed to be a recreational space for the middle classes in Caracas and a financial district for large businesses and executive centers. Only a small area of Sabana Grande was formerly planified as a mainly residential area. Originally, the Solano Residential Center was planned as an aparthotel for large executives in Caracas, but ended up being a residential complex for the middle and upper middle classes. Apartments in Solano Residential Center are very expensive because of its quality and strategic location. The Residential Center Solano stood out for being a set of urban reordering that inserted a large density of housing (750 apartments) in a space with commercial spirit. One of its most outstanding urban features was the way in which private and collective spaces, of transition and permanence, were integrated in a compact form. The apartments are repeated serially and in a mirror, joining a network that has as axis the central corridor.[84]
![](../I/m/Sabana_Grande_Caracas_Venezuela_Traki_Avenida_Casanova.jpg)
The strategic location of Sabana Grande makes this district frequented by Venezuelans of all social classes, especially since the Caracas Metro reached the commercial, tourist and financial district of Sabana Grande.[9] For this reason, some say that Sabana Grande is a thermometer of the socioeconomic reality of Caracas. The high and conservative classes have not always approved the popularization of the district Sabana Grande, since it also became the space of the homosexual community, the urban tribes, the marginalized of society, and more.[58] Previously, it had a more elite character that was later replaced by a bohemian, divergent and reactionary character. Sabana Grande has also become Sabanagay.[58][9] Las Acacias Avenue is known as Calle de Los Hoteles.
Sabana Grande is a huge open-air shopping center in Caracas. On November 5, 1989, Jennifer Merin of New York reported that Sabana Grande was the main commercial corridor of Caracas. While the minimum salary of a Venezuelan was $100 (almost $200 in 2018), a jacket in the Vogue Sabana Grande store could cost $5,000 (almost $10,000 in 2018).[140] La Puerta del Este (The Eastern Gate) of Caracas has been marked historically by social inequalities in Venezuela.[9] Luxury and misery, the Lumpenproletariat and the bohemian movements, the African santero and the blond Protestant; all have had a story to tell in Sabana Grande. There is still a long way to go before the Venezuelan economy recovers and Sabana Grande shines with all its splendor. Thanks to its privileged topographic conditions, Sabana Grande may have the potential to be the Fifth Avenue of Latin America, once the Venezuelan economy begins to recover.
See also
References
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- ↑ "Caracas The Skyscraper Center". www.skyscrapercenter.com. Retrieved 2018-05-01.
- ↑ Davila, Jesús. "Ordenanzas – Alcaldia de Caracas". www.caracas.gob.ve (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- ↑ "Bulevar de Sabana Grande – Caracas en 450". caracasen450.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ "Proyecto de Ley separa El Recreo de Libertador". El Nacional.
- ↑ "Con firmas pedirán que El Recreo sea un municipio". Cámara Inmobiliaria.
- 1 2 Caldera, Juan José (2014). "Mi testimonio" (PDF). Tesis de grado.
- 1 2 "Cerati: el estilo de vida del rockero argentino antes de su colapso – Edición Impresa". Edición Impresa (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-06-04.
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- ↑ @rrbfotos, Ramses Romero (2018-04-26). "Eight Bistró deleitará con la comida venezolana a la vanguardia". El Nacional. Retrieved 2018-05-01.
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- ↑ "Fotos: La Mujer Vampiro ya está en Caracas". www.redpres.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-03.
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- ↑ Suárez, Emigdio (2006). "Las tribus del bajo: un documental sobre el rock como fenómeno social" (PDF). Tesis de grado UCAB.
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- 1 2 3 4 5 Quintana, Marsolaire (2004). "Sabana Grande Calle Irreal". Revista Exceso (171): 28–33.
The president of the Municipal Council has sent reinforcements especially to the passage Asuncion, popularly known as the Callejon de la Teja Rodada and from a time to here as the Stab.
- 1 2 "En Caracas, no en París". El Nuevo País. June 30, 1997.
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- 1 2 Collazos Plata, Anabell (2012). "El espacio público en la vida urbana de Caracas. Caso de estudio: el Boulevard de Sabana Grande, Municipio Bolivariano Libertador, Distrito Capital" (PDF). Tesis de grado Universidad Central de Venezuela UCV.
- 1 2 3 Polito, Luis; Polito, Luis. "Las quintas de Manuel Mujica Millán y Carlos Raúl Villanueva alrededor de los años 30". Tesis de Grado Universidad Central de Venezuela.
- ↑ Jiménez, Gonzalo (March 1990). "El puzzle de las estrellas". Revista Exceso (15): 38–42.
Congratúlese: la parroquia El Recreo podría disputar a Beverly Hills la distinción como el lugar con mayor densidad de estrellas cinematográficas del mundo.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Flores Ramírez, Gildred Del Valle (2015). "Reordenamiento integral de la avenida casanova y su zona de injerencia" (PDF). Tesis de grado Universidad Simón Bolívar USB. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
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- 1 2 Nava, Migdalia (2014-06-12). "Hogares Inteligentes, una realidad". Tecnomovida Latam (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-01.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Centro Empresarial del Este". Informes de la Construcción. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. 10. December 1957.
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- 1 2 Martín Frechilla, Juan José (2004). Diálogos reconstruidos para una historia de la Caracas moderna. Caracas, Venezuela: CDCH UCV.
- 1 2 "Revista Epale Caracas". p. 83.
- ↑ Hernández V, José G. Anécdotas Hípicas Venezolanas presenta Sabana Grande: Cuna del Hipismo en Venezuela (1895–1896) Archived 2012-09-07 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Veloso Saad, José. 1976: La Caracas de aquellos tiempos. Caracas. 160p.
- ↑ Schael, Guillermo José. 1985: Caracas la ciudad que no vuelve. Cuarta Edición. Talleres de Gráficas Armitano, S.A. Caracas. 223p. ISBN 980-265-037-4
- ↑ Oficina de las Repúblicas Americanas. 1993: Venezuela 1899. Ediciones de la Presidencia de la República. Caracas. 279p.
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- ↑ Globovision. "Nuestros programas". globovision.com. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- ↑ Mitchell, Jeffrey (1998). "POLITICAL DECENTRALIZATION: A NEW TOOL FOR THE SEGREGATION OF URBAN SPACE? THE CASE OF CHACAO IN CARACAS, VENEZUELA". Latin American Studies Association, The Palmer House Hilton Hotel, Chicago Illinois.
- ↑ "Balú Moda inaugura tienda en Sabana Grande". Vida y Arte (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- 1 2 3 Rivero, Rafael (August 1993). "El Waterloo del Clan Cuntrera". Revista Exceso: 51–56.
- ↑ País, Ediciones El (1992-09-16). "La DEA exigió a Venezuela que entregara a los Cuntreras, según la prensa italiana". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- 1 2 3 País, Ediciones El (1992-09-18). "Venezuela expulsará a otros 55 miembros del clan vinculado a la Mafia". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ Pedrick, Clare (1992-09-17). "ITALY SNARES SUSPECTED MAFIA BOSSES, FACES RISK OF NEW VIOLENCE". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Rodríguez Valdés, Ángel (2001). "La condenada noche caraqueña". Revista exceso.
- 1 2 Flores Ramírez, Gildred Del Valle (2015). "Reordenamiento integral de la avenida casanova y su zona de injerencia" (PDF). Tesis de grado Universidad Simón Bolívar USB. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ↑ "Desmantelaron banda de explotación sexual infantil en Sabana Grande". Caraota Digital. 2018.
- 1 2 Scharfenberg, Ewald (1989). "El volante como máscara. Taxista intruso". Revista Exceso edicion nº 3 marzo 1989. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
- 1 2 Carvallo, Juan (1995). "La Segunda Costilla de Adán". Revista Exceso.
- ↑ "Las prostitutas de Caracas aceptan bolsas CLAP". Climax. 2018-01-16. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
- ↑ Caracasambiente2009 (2009-06-13), Rumba Gay en Caracas – en el: "PULLMAN", retrieved 2018-05-29
- 1 2 Chain, Amanda. "Top 10 Bars In Caracas, Venezuela". Culture Trip. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
- ↑ "La homofobia en Venezuela". Alba Ciudad 96.3 FM (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-25.
- ↑ Flores Ramírez, Gildred Del Valle (June 2015). "Reordenamiento integral de la Avenida Casanova y su zona de injerencia" (PDF). Tesis de grado USB. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- 1 2 3 Cohén Waxsman, Ariel (2015-08-01). ".: Ariel Cohén Waxsman Arquitectura :". Web Archive, ACW Arquitectura. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
- ↑ "Edificio Los Andes | Caracas del valle al mar". Caracas del valle al mar (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- 1 2 3 4 "CCScity450". CCScity450 (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- 1 2 "CCScity450". CCScity450 (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Libro arquitectos venezolanos". Issuu. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- ↑ "Revista entre rayas 109". Issuu. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Braceli, Miguel (2013). "Paisajes en proceso: Relaciones entre proyecto e intervención". Postgrado UCV.
- ↑ ""El Especialista" - El Estilete". El Estilete (in Spanish). 2015-09-07. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
- ↑ "El Centro Urbano El Recreo de Marcel Breuer. Un modelo de construcción de la ciudad – Material Cultural". www.materialcultural.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-30.
- ↑ "Arte Nuevo". El Nacional (in Spanish). 2015-08-25. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
- 1 2 3 4 Cardinale, Andrés (2001). "Desconstrucción de Carlos Gómez de Llarena". Revista Exceso.
- ↑ Polito, Luis. "Las quintas de Manuel Mujica Millán y Carlos Raúl Villanueva alrededor de los años 30". Tesis de Grado Universidad Central de Venezuela.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Torre Incimar, CCS". Lasala & Lasala (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- 1 2 Albizu, Azier Calvo (2007). Venezuela y el problema de su identidad arquitectónica (in Spanish). CDCH UCV. ISBN 9789800024300.
- ↑ Rodríguez, Verónica; Valero, Carla. "Una rayuela que se borra y se vuelve a dibujar cada día. Semblanza de lugar sobre la transformación urbanística y cultural de Sabana Grande" (PDF). Tesis de grado. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
- 1 2 3 Marinelli, Isabella (2017-11-10). "Arquitectura de nuestra Caracas: Arte para disfrutar". ConstruArte, C.A. (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-04-27.
- ↑ "DÉCADA DEL 00 – Caracas – EL UNIVERSAL". archivo.eluniversal.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ El Universal (Archivo). "Decadá del 00".
- ↑ R., OLGALINDA PIMENTEL (2017-09-24). "Caracas posee un altísimo riesgopor su debilidad ante un sismo". El Nacional (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ Nava, Migdalia (2014-06-12). "Hogares Inteligentes, una realidad". Tecnomovida Latam (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-01.
- ↑ "Edificio Agencia Banco Mercantil y Agrícola (actualmente Banco Mercantil) | Caracas del valle al mar". Caracas del valle al mar (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-06-06.
- ↑ Ziona Hirshbein, Cesia (2013). "David Alizo: Un narrador de nuestro tiempo". XIII Congreso de la Sociedad Latinoamericana de Estudios sobre América Latina y el Caribe SOLAR. Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.
- 1 2 "El gran Caupolicán". La Prensa (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-06-02.
- 1 2 "Sabana Grande refugio de lo sagrado y profano". El Estímulo.
- ↑ "Sabana Grande Refugio de lo Sagrado y Profano".
- 1 2 "CV Carlos Medina" (PDF).
- ↑ "Proyecto de Rehabilitación Integral Bulevar de Sabana Grande". Revista Entre Rayas. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- ↑ "El callejón de la puñalada – Caracas en 450". caracasen450.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- ↑ "Pdvsa La Estancia: 12 años de gestión indetenible – MippCI". minci.gob.ve (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- ↑ "Sabana Grande da la opción de pasear entre esculturas – Caracas – EL UNIVERSAL". 2012-02-07. Archived from the original on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- ↑ "La indolencia arruina las obras de arte del bulevar de Sabana Grande – IAM Venezuela". IAM Venezuela (in Spanish). 2018-04-12. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- ↑ "PDVSA La Estancia condena actos vandálicos a esculturas y elementos lúdicos en el Bulevar de Sabana Grande". www.primicias24.com. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- ↑ "Pérdida de la capa pictórica de la escultura Tajatí ( 1990), de Lía Bermúdez. Colección PDVSA La Estancia, bulevar de Sabana Grande, Caracas. Foto Luis Chacín, agosto 2015. - IAM Venezuela". IAM Venezuela (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- 1 2 Castillo, Jean. "Sabana Grande quedó listo para el disfrute de caraqueños | YVKE Mundial". www.radiomundial.com.ve (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- ↑ "Actos vandálicos contra obras de arte del Bulevar de Sabana Grande – IAM Venezuela". IAM Venezuela (in Spanish). 2016-01-21. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- ↑ Palacios Macario, Paola (2014). "Rock&Zuela: Historias de rock venezolano" (PDF). Tesis de grado UCV.
- ↑ Palacios Macario, Paola (2014). "Rock&Zuela: Historias de rock venezolano" (PDF). Tesis de grado UCV.
- ↑ rockenfantasia (2007-03-07), Melissa – Noches Eternas, retrieved 2018-06-23
- ↑ "Caracas retumbó al ritmo del metal en el Molino Rojo". www.hermanosdelrock.com. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ "AT THE GATES se presentará en Venezuela el 23 de Julio. Las entradas YA están a la venta. @cm_venezuela". ROCKTAMBULOS (in Spanish). 2012-02-16. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
- ↑ "BRING ME THE HORIZON SACUDIÓ CARACAS". www.hermanosdelrock.com. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
- ↑ "Suspendido concierto de AMON AMARTH en Venezuela". ROCKTAMBULOS (in Spanish). 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
- 1 2 3 "Nosotros – Colección Ornitológica Phelps". fundacionwhphelps.org (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- 1 2 3 4 VUILLEUMIER, FRANCOIS (1990). "IN MEMORIAM: WILLIAM H. PHELPS JR" (PDF). Department of Ornithology, The American Museum of Natural Histor.
- ↑ Dugand, Armando; Phelps, William (1948). "AVES DE LA RIBERA COLOMBIANA DEL RIO NEGRO (FRONTERA DE COLOMBIA Y VENEZUELA)" (PDF). Libro.
- ↑ Phelps, William; Robert, Dickerman (1980). "CUATRO SUBESPECIES NUEVAS DE AVES (FURNARIIDAE, FORMICARIIDAE) DE LA REGION DE PANTEPUI, ESTADO BOLIVAR Y TERRITORIO AMAZONAS, VENEZUELA" (PDF). Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales.
- ↑ Kirschstein, Marcos (29 January 2018). "El bulevar de Sabana Grande esconde un misterio de ochenta años". Audiovisual. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
- 1 2 3 "Bosque Urbano El Porvenir". Revista Entre Rayas.
- ↑ Cobos, Eduardo (2009). La muerte y su dominio. El Cementerio General del Sur en el guzmanato, 1876–1887. Caracas: Centro Nacional de Historia.
- ↑ Landaeta Rosales, Manuel (1906). Los cementerios de Caracas desde 1567 hasta 1906. Caracas: Herrera Irigoyen.
- ↑ "CEMENTERIO "EL RECREO" EXPRESION DE LA PUGNA ENTRE LA TRADICION Y EL PROGRESO, SIGLO XIX" (in Spanish). 2017-11-16. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- ↑ "CEMENTERIO "EL RECREO", EXPRESION DE LA PUGNA ENTRE LA TRADICION Y EL PROGRESO, SIGLO XIX" (in Spanish). 2017-11-16. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
- 1 2 3 "Articulo". www.fundacionvillanueva.org. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- 1 2 vanessa. "BREVE HISTORIA DE LA ZONA RENTAL DE LA UNIVERSIDAD CENTRAL DE VENEZUELA". webcache.googleusercontent.com. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- 1 2 "Ficha técnica aparthotel 4 estrellas" (PDF). Fundación Fondo Andrés Bello. 2012.
- 1 2 "Concurso zona rental Plaza Venezuela – Plan1 Estudio". www.plan1estudio.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ "ma+ micucci arquitectos asociados". www.ma-arq.com. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- 1 2 "Revista CAV No.55". Issuu. Retrieved 2018-06-03.
- ↑ "FOTOS: Chávez inaugura el Abasto Bicentenario más grande del país en la Zona Rental". Alba Ciudad 96.3 FM (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-06-03.
- ↑ Mundo, Redacción BBC. "Chávez ordena expropiación del Éxito". BBC News Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ Oliva Denis, Richard Daniel (2015). "PROYECTO DE REORDENAMIENTO INTEGRAL DE LA AVENIDA FRANCISCO SOLANO LÓPEZ Y SU ÁREA DE INJERENCIA" (PDF). Tesis de grado Universidad Simón Bolívar.
- ↑ "Centro Comercial El Recreo Promoviendo la coexistencia". Top Shopping Centers. 2013.
- 1 2 Merin, Jennifer (1989). "A Leisurely Approach to Fashionable Caracas".
- ↑ "Los nuevos detalles escandalosos sobre el asesinato de los dos militares de Sabana Grande". El Cooperante. 24 March 2017.
- ↑ Dia, Noticia al (2017-01-21). "Gran Misión A Toda Vida Venezuela refuerza seguridad en parroquias de Caracas". noticiaaldia.com | Noticias de Maracaibo Sucesos del Zulia (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-24.
- ↑ "Reporte de Transparencia Venezuela" (PDF). Transparencia Venezuela. 2015–2016.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sabana Grande. |
- Youtube: Sabana Grande in 1987
- The administrative division of the Libertador Municipality of Caracas (includes the zoning plans of the Sabana Grande district)
- Sabana Grande Online – Listado de comercios, Imágenes y noticias acerca del boulevard
- Boulevard de Sabana Grande diagnóstico integral para su rehabilitación
- Proyecto de Rehabilitación Integral Bulevar de Sabana Grande
- El Nacional: Narran las historias mínimas de Sabana Grande Emyly Avendaño. 24 de marzo de 2013
- Youtube: Antes y ahora en el Bulevar de Sabana Grande (Caracas – Venezuela)