Some of the prominent landmarks of La Asunción are the cathedral of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, the Santa Rosa castle, the Museo Nueva Cádiz, the Casa de la Cultura and Cerro El Copey National Park.
Catedral Nuestra Señora de La Asunción Built between 1570 and 1612, the
Catedral Nuestra Señora de La Asunción is the oldest existing church in Venezuela. Its construction was started in 1570 (much before the construction of the cathedral of Coro) and was never completed. A new church was built starting in 1609 which took 10 years to complete. The most important festival observed here falls in mid-August, coinciding with the Feast of the Assumption on the Roman Catholic calendar, when a procession is held and mass offered in the church.
Castle of Santa Rosa de la Eminencia The
Santa Rosa de la Eminencia castle was built in 1682. Due to its prominent location on a hill, it acted as an observatory to watch for any invading forces approaching from the north, south, or east. A tunnel (a kilometer long, dug during the original construction) from the fort connected it to the governor's house, the church, and the
Convent of San Francisco. The fort guarded the eastern approach to the capital and was one of three forts that secured the island's strategic location to fend off the English, French, Dutch and other colonizers. It was where
Luisa Caceres de Arismendi, wife of the leading freedom fighter
Juan Bautista Arismendi against Spanish imperialism, was imprisoned after capture by the Spanish on 27 September 1816. She had been taken prisoner three days earlier, on the day before her 17th birthday. She became a local heroine; in the prison cell of the fort, her first son was born and died prematurely due to lack of medical attention. She was imprisoned as her husband had escaped to the forests of
Cerro El Copey and by capturing her they hoped that they could make the freedom fighter to surrender but the plan failed. After the death of the baby she was moved to Spain from where she escaped. She eventually joined her husband with whom she begot 11 children and died at the age of 65. After her death she had the honour of becoming one of two women buried in the
National Pantheon in Caracas. The cell where she was incarcerated in the castle has been preserved in its original form. An inscription at the entrance to the cell reads "
Luisa Caceres de Arismendi for her virtue valour and martyrdom for her husband and country as prisoner in this jail when she was 16 years of age." The fort has exhibits of weapons of war, paintings of
Simon Bolivar, knights in armor, and also iron balls which were tied to the legs of prisoners. Behind the kitchen there is a
bottle dungeon whose entrance is through a hole in the roof. The fort provides an excellent view of the sea and
Cerro Matasiete. It had a moat and a draw bridge which no longer exist. The map on display in the museum is reported to be the best in the world.
Museum Nueva Cádiz The Casa Capitular, the seat of the colonial government, and a city hall has been re-purposed as the Museo Nueva Cádiz (New Cádiz Museum) which features displays of precolonial artifacts and local handicrafts. Initially, as the seat of the government, it had housed the offices in the first floor and a prison on the ground floor. On May 4, 1810, the museum was the venue for Margarita's Declaration of Independence following the declaration made in
Caracas on April 19, 1810. As the prison space was inadequate to accommodate the large number of prisoners, it was converted into a museum with a gallery and a library. An interesting display in the museum is a sculpture of the tyrant
Lope de Aguirre who terrorized the islanders in 1561. (This event is featured in the film titled
Aguirre, the Wrath of God produced by
Werner Herzog with
Klaus Kinski in the lead role.)
Casa de Juan Bautista Arismendi Casa de Juan Bautista Arismendi honors Venezuela's war hero,
Juan Bautista Arismendi.
Casa de la Cultura The Casa de la Cultura is located opposite the church and has a theater. A pre-Columbian pottery collection is on display here and replicas of the same could be bought in the nearby town of Santa Ana.
Cerro El Copey National Park Isla Margarita and particularly
Cerro El Copey National Park are especially important with respect to the numbers of endemic species they harbor. The island was connected to mainland until the Pleistocene. As a result, there is a predominance of typical continental bird families like Tinamidae, Dendrocolaptidae, Formicaridae and Furnaridae, which are totally absent from the
Antilles. Circa 31 mammal species are found on the island, four of which (the red-tailed squirrel
Sciurus granatensis nesaeus, the eastern cottontail rabbit
Sylvilagus floridanus margaritae, the white-tailed dear
Odocoileus virginianus margaritae, and the capuchin monkey
Cebus apella margaritae) are endemic subspecies, with the main populations located inside the national park. The Margarita capuchin monkey is considered to be the country's most threatened primate species and is critically endangered. ==Gallery==