1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Valencia (Venezuela)

VALENCIA, a city of Venezuela and capital of the state of Carabobo, 111 m. by rail W.S.W. of Caracas, and 24 m. direct (33½ m. by rail) S. by E. of Puerto Cabello. Pop. (1894) 38,654. There is railway connexion with Caracas by the Great Venezuela line (German) and with Puerto Cabello by the Puerto Cabello and Valencia line (English), which crosses the N. range of the Maritime Andes. There is also a steamboat service on Lake Valencia. The city is situated on the N.W. border of a lacustrine plain occupied in great part by Lake Tacarigua, or Valencia^[1] and nearly 2 m. from its western margin. It is beautifully situated in a large fertile valley between parallel ranges of the Maritime Andes, about 1625 ft. above sea-level, and in the midst of rich plantations and luxuriant tropical vegetation. The climate is mild and pleasant, the temperature ranging from 66° to 87° F. with an annual mean of 76°, and the rainfall being about the same as that of Caracas, or 23 to 30 in. Near Valencia on the Puerto Cabello railway are the Las Trincheras thermal springs. Among Valencia's public edilices and institutions are some good churches, the government palace, a university, a national college for women, al normal school for men and a public library. Valencia was founded in 1555 and is older than Caracas. It was occupied for a time in 1561 by Aguirre and his band of outlaws. At the beginning of the War of Independence it was made the capital of Venezuela, and the patriot congress was in session there in 1812 when Caracas was destroyed by an earthquake. It changed masters several times during the war, its most famous events being two successful defences in 1814 against, Spanish besieging forces. The town suffered much in the war and from subsequent revolutions, but the remarkable productiveness of the surrounding districts and its advantageous commercial position ensured a prompt recovery from all reverses.

1. Lake Valencia occupies one of the so-called Aragua valleys, enclosed between the parallel ranges of the Maritime Andes. It is 1348 ft. above the sea, is about 30 m. long, has an area of 216 sq. m., and a catchment basin of 1782 sq. m., and lies partly in the state of Aragua. It includes a number of small islands, some inhabited, and receives the waters of a score of small streams from the surrounding mountains.