Barquisimeto

Barquisimeto stands in the valley of the Turbio River, where routes from Venezuela’s central valleys meet the western highlands. Juan de Villegas founded Nueva Segovia in 1552 near the gold mines of Buría. The settlement moved several times before becoming established near the river known as Barquisimeto. Indigenous communities inhabited the surrounding valleys and mountains before Spanish conquest.

Gold drew the first colonists to the region, and Villegas issued ordinances regulating the distribution of Indigenous labour in 1552. Over the following centuries agriculture and commerce helped sustain the town on the roads between central and western Venezuela. During the wars of independence, Barquisimeto suffered both fighting and the destructive earthquake of 1812. Its position continued to make it an important centre between the coastal valleys and the Andean approaches.