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Diego de Losada was a Spanish conquistador and the founder of Caracas, Venezuela. He was born in 1511, reached Puerto Rico in 1533, and died in 1569.
Biografía de Diego de Losada, conquistador español que fundó Caracas en 1567. Conoce su trayectoria, sus conflictos con otros líderes y su papel en la colonización de Venezuela.
Diego de Losada (b. 1511; d. 1569), Spanish conquistador and founder of Caracas, Venezuela. Losada traveled to America as part of the conquistador armies. He passed through Puerto Rico and later, in 1533, joined Antonio Sendeño's expedition on the Meta River.
…region began in 1566, and Diego de Losada is credited with the actual founding of the city in 1567. He named it Santiago de León de Caracas in honour of the apostle James, who is the patron saint of Spain, Don Pedro Ponce de León, who was the provincial governor,… Read More
- Overview
- History of Caracas
The settlement of Caracas occurred more than 40 years after that of Cumaná (1523), to the east, and Coro (1527), to the west. A ranch was established in the valley in 1557 by Francisco Fajardo, the son of a Spanish captain and an Indian chief’s daughter, and in 1561 Juan Rodríguez Suárez founded a town on the site of the ranch; but the town was soon destroyed by Indian attacks. The conquest and resettlement of the region began in 1566, and Diego de Losada is credited with the actual founding of the city in 1567. He named it Santiago de León de Caracas in honour of the apostle James, who is the patron saint of Spain, Don Pedro Ponce de León, who was the provincial governor, and the Caracas Indians, who inhabited the region.
In 1578 the city was a quadrilateral formed of 24 squares centred on a plaza. The streets were straight and cobbled, and rivulets of water from the hills ran along their margins. Three houses were made of brick, each of two floors, with straw roofs; most houses had walls of bajareque (cane and earth), packed earth, or adobe and roofs of straw or tile. During this era, the average house of the upper class was large, with tree-filled patios and arcades and with separate slave quarters and stable. Initial growth was along the road to the north and then to the south. Later, development advanced to the west and east.
The cabildo, or town council, of Caracas increasingly exercised authority over the entire central portion of Venezuela, and an elite group emerged to manage the political and economic affairs of the city. In 1577 Caracas acquired its status as a provincial capital. The city was sacked by English buccaneers in 1595, and its buildings were almost totally destroyed by two earthquakes in 1755 and 1812. During the 17th and 18th centuries, however, Caracas gradually emerged as the predominant urban centre of Venezuela. The Indian resistance to settlement was quickly overcome, in part owing to an epidemic of smallpox that decimated the native population. The valley was relatively free from pirate attacks, despite its central location near the north coast of the country. The valley itself and adjacent valleys produced some gold and then became important for exportation of cacao (cocoa), the source of chocolate. In addition, Caracas offered a healthful, comfortable climate and an abundance of fresh water. Simón Bolívar, the most renowned of South American heroes, was born in Caracas on July 24, 1783, into a family long prominent in Venezuelan affairs. Bolívar participated in the formation of the short-lived first republic (1811–12), and two years later he invaded Venezuela with a small force recruited in New Granada. After he captured Caracas in August 1813, the city conferred on him the title El Libertador (“The Liberator”). A year later Bolívar’s patriotic forces were in full retreat, but, when Gran Colombia (present-day Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, and Ecuador) finally won independence in 1821, Caracas became the capital of Venezuela; the city retained that distinction when Venezuela seceded from Gran Colombia in 1830. However, because Caracas had been heavily damaged during the wars of independence, it did not prosper again until the latter part of the 19th century.
In 1870, the urban transformation of Caracas began under Pres. Antonio Guzmán Blanco. When not actually residing in Paris and ruling Venezuela through a puppet president, Guzmán Blanco was busily trying to make Caracas a replica of the French capital. The French architectural taste of that period replaced the Spanish colonial style. Avenues were built, and some streets were widened to encourage the growth of the city, which had attained a population of nearly 56,000 by 1881. The Caracas and La Guaira Railway was inaugurated, with pomp and ceremony, in 1883. This railroad climbed the steep coastal range and connected the Venezuelan capital with its Caribbean seaport. In the early 20th century, Caracas’s first urban real estate development, designed for the upper class, was built in suburban El Paraíso. A short time later, a development for the middle class was begun in Catia, to the west.
Beginning in 1936, after the death of Gen. Juan Vicente Gómez, who had been dictator for 27 years, the country experienced a new era of prosperity based on petroleum exploitation. Construction was extended as far as geographically possible. In the downtown area of the city, El Silencio district was transformed into a huge middle-income residential-commercial building complex. This development, programmed in 1939 together with a Regulating Plan for Caracas, was the first work of such magnitude in the country; it marked the beginning of the city’s modern architectural trend. In addition, the city’s population more than doubled, swelling from about 200,000 in 1936 to 500,000 in 1950, with a total metropolitan population of nearly 700,000.
During the period 1952–57 Venezuela was ruled by another military dictator, Marcos Pérez Jiménez, who was part of the military junta that previously ruled Venezuela (1950–52). Jiménez devoted primary attention to the modernization of Caracas: slums were cleared and replaced by colourful high-rise apartments, and superhighways were built to connect Caracas with the coast and with the interior. The change in the appearance of Caracas was abrupt and overwhelming. The old city began to disappear as commercial and government buildings were erected at a feverish pace in the valley.
The settlement of Caracas occurred more than 40 years after that of Cumaná (1523), to the east, and Coro (1527), to the west. A ranch was established in the valley in 1557 by Francisco Fajardo, the son of a Spanish captain and an Indian chief’s daughter, and in 1561 Juan Rodríguez Suárez founded a town on the site of the ranch; but the town was soon destroyed by Indian attacks. The conquest and resettlement of the region began in 1566, and Diego de Losada is credited with the actual founding of the city in 1567. He named it Santiago de León de Caracas in honour of the apostle James, who is the patron saint of Spain, Don Pedro Ponce de León, who was the provincial governor, and the Caracas Indians, who inhabited the region.
In 1578 the city was a quadrilateral formed of 24 squares centred on a plaza. The streets were straight and cobbled, and rivulets of water from the hills ran along their margins. Three houses were made of brick, each of two floors, with straw roofs; most houses had walls of bajareque (cane and earth), packed earth, or adobe and roofs of straw or tile. During this era, the average house of the upper class was large, with tree-filled patios and arcades and with separate slave quarters and stable. Initial growth was along the road to the north and then to the south. Later, development advanced to the west and east.
The cabildo, or town council, of Caracas increasingly exercised authority over the entire central portion of Venezuela, and an elite group emerged to manage the political and economic affairs of the city. In 1577 Caracas acquired its status as a provincial capital. The city was sacked by English buccaneers in 1595, and its buildings were almost totally destroyed by two earthquakes in 1755 and 1812. During the 17th and 18th centuries, however, Caracas gradually emerged as the predominant urban centre of Venezuela. The Indian resistance to settlement was quickly overcome, in part owing to an epidemic of smallpox that decimated the native population. The valley was relatively free from pirate attacks, despite its central location near the north coast of the country. The valley itself and adjacent valleys produced some gold and then became important for exportation of cacao (cocoa), the source of chocolate. In addition, Caracas offered a healthful, comfortable climate and an abundance of fresh water. Simón Bolívar, the most renowned of South American heroes, was born in Caracas on July 24, 1783, into a family long prominent in Venezuelan affairs. Bolívar participated in the formation of the short-lived first republic (1811–12), and two years later he invaded Venezuela with a small force recruited in New Granada. After he captured Caracas in August 1813, the city conferred on him the title El Libertador (“The Liberator”). A year later Bolívar’s patriotic forces were in full retreat, but, when Gran Colombia (present-day Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, and Ecuador) finally won independence in 1821, Caracas became the capital of Venezuela; the city retained that distinction when Venezuela seceded from Gran Colombia in 1830. However, because Caracas had been heavily damaged during the wars of independence, it did not prosper again until the latter part of the 19th century.
In 1870, the urban transformation of Caracas began under Pres. Antonio Guzmán Blanco. When not actually residing in Paris and ruling Venezuela through a puppet president, Guzmán Blanco was busily trying to make Caracas a replica of the French capital. The French architectural taste of that period replaced the Spanish colonial style. Avenues were built, and some streets were widened to encourage the growth of the city, which had attained a population of nearly 56,000 by 1881. The Caracas and La Guaira Railway was inaugurated, with pomp and ceremony, in 1883. This railroad climbed the steep coastal range and connected the Venezuelan capital with its Caribbean seaport. In the early 20th century, Caracas’s first urban real estate development, designed for the upper class, was built in suburban El Paraíso. A short time later, a development for the middle class was begun in Catia, to the west.
Beginning in 1936, after the death of Gen. Juan Vicente Gómez, who had been dictator for 27 years, the country experienced a new era of prosperity based on petroleum exploitation. Construction was extended as far as geographically possible. In the downtown area of the city, El Silencio district was transformed into a huge middle-income residential-commercial building complex. This development, programmed in 1939 together with a Regulating Plan for Caracas, was the first work of such magnitude in the country; it marked the beginning of the city’s modern architectural trend. In addition, the city’s population more than doubled, swelling from about 200,000 in 1936 to 500,000 in 1950, with a total metropolitan population of nearly 700,000.
During the period 1952–57 Venezuela was ruled by another military dictator, Marcos Pérez Jiménez, who was part of the military junta that previously ruled Venezuela (1950–52). Jiménez devoted primary attention to the modernization of Caracas: slums were cleared and replaced by colourful high-rise apartments, and superhighways were built to connect Caracas with the coast and with the interior. The change in the appearance of Caracas was abrupt and overwhelming. The old city began to disappear as commercial and government buildings were erected at a feverish pace in the valley.
Diego de Losada, cuya figura emerge en un contexto lleno de desafíos y oportunidades, se distingue como un líder capaz y visionario en el escenario de la conquista española.
Dec 7, 2020 · In 1567, the conqueror Diego de Losada entered the Valley of Caracas from the west and founded the city of Santiago de León de Caracas (Nectario María Citation 1979, 111–29). The confederated indigenous peoples of the region under the chief Guaicaipuro commenced their last and unsuccessful offensive against the conquerors at the beginning ...
