Free Walking Tour Ciudad Bolívar: Angostura to Soto

Your Ciudad Bolívar Walking Tour: Five Stops from Angostura to the Orinoco

1. 1

   Casa del Congreso de Angostura

   

   Start on the west side of Plaza Bolívar, at the long colonial building also known as the Palacio de Angostura. The governor of the province of Guayana, Manuel Centurión Guerrero de Torres, had it built between 1766 and 1777 as the seat of a school, the Colegio de Latinidad y Letras. The plot covers 2,150 square metres: half of it is the two-storey building, the rest two terraced gardens enclosed by high walls that merge into the façade, the way colonial builders liked it. Look for the iron cannon in one corner, 1.5 metres long, believed to have been brought here by soldiers from the Fuerte Santa Fe.

   The house takes its name from the Congress of Angostura, the constituent assembly at which Simón Bolívar delivered his Angostura Address, his most famous speech: an analysis of the country's political situation and a blueprint for the constitution he hoped for. The building also holds a darker memory. By Bolívar's own account, he watched the execution of General-in-Chief Manuel Piar from one of its balconies. For a time the newspaper Correo del Orinoco was edited here as well.

   Its later history is a tug of war. In 1824 Francisco de Paula Santander, vice president of Gran Colombia, ordered a national boys' school to open here, but bureaucracy and a quarrel between the central and provincial governments over who owned the building blocked it. In December 1829 Monsignor Mariano de Talavera y Garcés took possession and taught Latin grammar until 1831, when he was expelled for refusing to swear loyalty to the Constitution of Venezuela. Toward the end of the 19th century the Colegio Federal Guayana moved in.

   Entry is free, and going in is worth it if Bolívar and the independence years interest you. Then it is 220 m, three minutes, to the cathedral, a church that the same Monsignor Talavera would go on to finish.

   Hours

   Tue–Sun, closed Mon

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Casa del Congreso de Angostura on Google Maps ↗

2. 2

   Catedral de Santo Tomás

   

   The Catedral de Santo Tomás, known locally simply as the Catedral de Ciudad Bolívar, is dedicated to Saint Thomas the Apostle, a name from the years when the city belonged to the Diocese of Santo Tomás de Guayana. Its tower rises 44 metres, the central nave measures 26 metres, and inside stands a sculpture of the saint.

   The church became a cathedral on 20 May 1790, when Pope Pius VI created the Diocese of Guayana at the urging of King Charles IV of Spain, even though the building was still unfinished. Completion came through Monsignor Talavera, the man you just met at the congress house: he called on the parishioners to contribute and raised 19,000 pesos, enough to finish the church without its tower. He blessed it in 1841. Its oldest image probably came from Europe around 1790.

   Much of what you see inside goes back to Bishop Antonio María Durán. Using a bequest from Don José Lezama, he laid the mosaic floor and installed the high altar given by Lezama and his wife, set up the baptistery's sculpture group donated by Don Antonio Liccioni, placed the altar of Our Lady of Lourdes beneath the tower and had the whole interior painted in oil. On 20 February 1896 he consecrated the cathedral with relics of the martyrs Macario, Víctor, Urbano and Águeda. In 1958 Pope Pius XII made it the seat of an archdiocese.

   Entry to the cathedral is free. Masses are held at 9:00 and 17:00; come between them if you want to look at the altars without interrupting a service. From here the legs get longer: 980 m, about 14 minutes, to Fortín El Zamuro.

   Local name

   Catedral de Ciudad Bolívar

   Hours

   Daily; masses 9:00 & 17:00

   Price

   Free

   Website

   catedraldeciudadbolivar.com.ve ↗

   Location

   Catedral de Santo Tomás on Google Maps ↗

3. 3

   Fortín El Zamuro

   

   Fortín El Zamuro is best taken for what it is: an open-air viewpoint, free to enter, rather than a furnished museum. The lookout is the reason it is on the route. Walk the perimeter, take in the panorama and treat the place as a breather before the long stretch ahead.

   Timing matters here more than anywhere else on the walk: the fort keeps short hours and is not open every day. When you leave, the first of the two longest legs begins: 1,810 m, about 24 minutes, to the Paseo Orinoco.

   Hours

   Tue–Fri 8:30–15:00, closed Mon

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Fortín El Zamuro on Google Maps ↗

4. 4

   Paseo Orinoco

   

   The route now swings onto the Paseo Orinoco and settles in beside the river. This is the one stop with no door, no ticket and no closing time: a public promenade along the Orinoco, open around the clock. After three places that decide when you may enter, that openness is the point.

   The two longest legs of the walk meet here, the one from the fort and the one out to the museum, and the promenade is where the distance stops feeling like transit and becomes the walk itself. If your morning ran late, this is the stretch that forgives you. From here it is 2,030 m, about 30 minutes, to the Museo de Arte Moderno Jesús Soto, which keeps opening hours of its own.

   Hours

   24/7

   Price

   Free (public promenade)

   Location

   Paseo Orinoco on Google Maps ↗

5. 5

   Museo de Arte Moderno Jesús Soto

   

   The walk ends at a museum born from a promise. Jesús Rafael Soto, the kinetic artist and sculptor, was born in Ciudad Bolívar. When he won Venezuela's National Prize for Plastic Arts in 1959, he announced at the ceremony that he wanted to found a museum in his hometown. Only in the late 1960s did he start donating, around 1969 a large body of property and pieces covering his different artistic periods. The city, which had no cultural institutions at the time, welcomed the idea.

   First it offered the neoclassical Casa Wantzelius in the centre, and the architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva drafted a renovation before the building proved too damaged. In 1969 the state governor gave Soto and Villanueva land between the old and new towns instead, which left Villanueva freer. Soto's friend had designed the art-filled University City campus in Caracas and in his later work sought an architecture of essential features, refinement and simplicity.

   The 1,080 square metre building went up in only nine and a half months in 1971: Soto visited the fresh site on 21 February, and completion was announced on 4 December. The museum opened in 1973 and today holds 350 works by a range of artists, Soto among them. It stands where Avenida Germanías meets Avenida Mario Briceño, part of the planned New Cultural Center district, and in 2019 it hosted the third "Pueblos en Resistencia" biennial.

   Entry is free. Give it an hour if you like modern art, and more if Soto's work grabs you: this is where the route ends, so nothing else is waiting.

   Hours

   Tue–Fri 09:00–17:00, Sat–Sun 10:00–16:00, Mon closed

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Museo de Arte Moderno Jesús Soto on Google Maps ↗

Shorter Ways to Walk Ciudad Bolívar

Not every day has room for the full walk to the museum. These cuts keep the route's logic and every stop on them stays free.

Independence history and the fort

Stops: 1, 2, 3

For a short morning or anyone mainly interested in Bolívar and the colonial city: the congress house, the cathedral and the viewpoint at the fort. 1,200 m and 17 minutes of walking, no entry fees.

Old town down to the river

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4

For walkers who want the history and the Orinoco but not the final long leg: you end on the promenade after 3,010 m and 41 minutes of walking. All four stops are free.

River and modern art

Stops: 4, 5

For art lovers with an afternoon: walk the Paseo Orinoco, then the 2,030 m, 30 minutes out to the Soto museum, where entry is free.

How Long Does This Ciudad Bolívar Walk Take with Visits?

Pure walking time is 1 h 11 min over 5.0 km. Add half an hour in the Casa del Congreso de Angostura, 20 minutes each in the cathedral and at the fort, half an hour on the promenade and an hour in the Soto museum, and you need about 3 h 50 min: start at 10:00, reach the museum at 12:51 and finish around 13:50.

The shorter cuts take far less. The old town and the fort come to about an hour and a half with visits, adding the promenade makes it about 2 h 20 min, and the river with the museum on its own fills about two hours.

Before You Set Out in Ciudad Bolívar

• Start and finish: The recommended start is the Casa del Congreso de Angostura on Plaza Bolívar, but you can join at any stop. The walk is one way and ends at the Museo de Arte Moderno Jesús Soto, not back at the plaza.
• Best days: Choose your day with care: the congress house, the fort and the museum are not open every day, and the fort keeps the most limited hours.
• Time of day: A start around 10:00 gets you to the fort well before it closes and leaves the whole afternoon for the museum.
• Costs: All five stops are free to enter, and so are the route, the map and the GPS navigation.
• Water: Carry water for the riverside part of the walk: the legs to and from the promenade are the longest of the route.

Common Questions about Walking Ciudad Bolívar