Valencia History Facts and Timeline

(Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela)

One of Venezuela's largest and most important cities, Valencia has a history which officially dates back to the middle of the 16th century.

However, the area is believed to have been inhabited since the fourth millennium BC. Back then, the inhabitants were primarily hunter gatherers, who practiced primitive forms of agriculture.

Between the years of 200 AD and 1000 AD, a growing community established itself nearby Lake Valencia. It is thought that migrants began to arrive here from the Orinoco River area towards the end of this period.

The Foundation of Valencia

The city of today was established on 25th March, 1555, by one Captain Alonso Diaz Moreno, just under a decade before the founding of the future Venezuelan capital, Caracas. It became Central Venezuela's earliest Spanish settlement and was formally named as Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion de Nueva Valencia del Rey. The regional Indians were governed by the Spanish settlers, who steadily began moving the native population away from the land. However, relations were relatively amicable and there were a number of inter-marriages at this time.

Lope de Aguirre, a renowned Basque Spanish explorer, came to Valencia at the beginning of the 1560s and made his presence known. The Spanish settlers continued to develop the city, although the 1670s witnessed the arrival of pirates. An army of pirates razed the City Hall, and much important documentation relating to the history of both Valencia and Venezuela was subsequently lost forever.

History of the 19th century

In the early decades of the 19th century, Alexander von Humboldt, a leading Prussian naturalist, came to the city as part of his expedition through North and South America. His journals were thorough and have proved invaluable to historians trying to piece together the timeline of Valencia. Documents record that Humboldt estimated the city's population was in the region of 6,500 people, and clearly growing.

The Battle of Carabobo (24th June, 1821), took place near the city. Venezuela was victorious and finally managed to gain its independence from the Spanish. Valencia was chosen to become the first capital of Venezuela, although this title was relatively short-lived, with Caracas taking over the mantle just under 30 years later, when the Monagas state was defeated.

The University of Valencia, now better known as the University of Carabobo, was founded in 1892 and continues to be a leading educational institution in Venezuela, with its present-day student base currently topping an impressive 50,000.

Growth of the City

In 1935, the year of the death of ruler Juan Vicente Gomez, Valencia remained a relatively small city. However, the city's fortunes were set to change when industrialisation and oil wealth materialised, leading to a significant population boom and a time of great prosperity. Many immigrants, at first from Europe and later from other countries in South America, began to settle here in large numbers.

The first governmental elections in the history of Valencia were held as recently as 1988. Today, the city still has a maverick spirit, with more than half of its residents defying controversial President Hugo Chavez's reform agenda in a national referendum, the highest in the entire country. The city now serves as an important and modern centre of commerce and industry, in this oil rich but poverty blighted country, and boasts a population in the region of two million.