Simon Bolivar - Barcelona, Spain
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denben
N 41° 22.936 E 002° 11.629
31T E 432591 N 4581507
The statue to Simón Bolívar by Julio Maragall stands in the Parc de la Barceloneta next to the Hospital del Mar on the Barcelona seashore.
Waymark Code: WMQEVB
Location: Cataluña, Spain
Date Posted: 02/18/2016
Views: 7
The larger than life-size bronze sculpture depicts Simón Bolívar wearing a cape and walking towards the Mediteranean sea.
Created by Julio Maragall the monument was inaugurated on 26 september 1996 by the President of Venezuela Doctor Rafael Caldera and the King of Spain his Majesty Juan Carlos I. It was financed by the Catalan colony of Venezuela.
Simón Bolívar, in full Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830), was a Venezuelan military and political leader who played an instrumental role in the establishment of Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru and Colombia as sovereign states, independent of Spanish rule.
Bolívar was born in Caracas, New Granada (now Venezuela), into a wealthy, aristocratic Creole family, and similar to others of his day, he was educated in Europe at a young age, arriving in Spain at the age of 16. There, he was introduced to the thoughts and ideas of learned Enlightenment philosophers, which filled him with the ambition to replace the Spanish as rulers. Taking advantage of the disorder in Spain prompted by the Peninsular War, Bolívar inaugurated his campaign for independence in 1808, appealing to the wealthy creole population by seeking freedom through a conservative process and had an organized national congress established within three years. Despite a number of hindrances, including the arrival of an unprecedented large Spanish expeditionary force, the revolutionaries eventually prevailed, culminating in a patriot victory at the Battle of Carabobo in 1821, which effectively made Venezuela a truly independent country.
Following this triumph over the Spanish monarchy, Bolívar participated in the foundation of the first union of independent nations in Latin America, Gran Colombia, of which he was president from 1819 to 1830. Through further military conquest, he also conquered Ecuador, Peru, and finally, Bolivia (which was named after him), assuming the presidency of each of these new nations. At the peak of his power, Bolívar ruled over a vast territory from the Argentine border to the Caribbean.
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