Venezuela: Caracas – Military Academy Parade Plaza

Here’s another place mostly off limits without a special permit – the Parade Plaza of the Military Academy which serves as the main parade ground, facing the historic facade of the Academia Militar del Ejercito Bolivariano, which is the heart of Venezuela’s military institution. The plaza was designed in the early 1950s under President Marcos Pérez Jiménez. The plaza is flanked by Neoclassical and Art Deco architecture with large bronze lion sculptures, while the central facade has high-relief friezes with scenes from Venezuelan military history. The square can accommodate thousands of troops simultaneously, it hosts high-level state ceremonies, national independence commemorations, foreign dignitary receptions, and official changes of command.