El Hatillo Municipality
The seat of the municipal government is El Hatillo Town, founded in 1784 by Don Baltasar de León, who was instrumental in the area's development.The business sector remains mostly underdeveloped, causing heavy employee movement in and out of the municipality – a problem that has made the transportation infrastructure of El Hatillo very congested.[4] In the 16th century, when the Spanish colonisation in the area began, El Hatillo was inhabited by the Mariches, a tribe of indigenous people possibly related to the Kalina (Caribs).As the colonisation developed, the indigenous inhabitants were killed; by order of Caracas's founder Diego de Losada, Tamanaco was also murdered.[8] That same year, Don Baltasar and his brother-in-law donated their properties to the town, and an engineer assisted in the urban planning, which included grid streets and a parish church.[8] The church was built to honor Santa Rosalía de Palermo, who Baltasar believed had saved him from a plague that killed his father in prison.[10] In 1809, landlord and Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Escalona[11] achieved the separation of El Hatillo from Petare, another suburb of Caracas, making it a different Tenientazgo de Justicia – a type of administrative division at the time.[12] Ana Francisca Pérez García, Don Baltasar's wife, was a noteworthy woman in El Hatillo, attending to community children, elders and ill citizens.Brazilian landscape designer Roberto Burle Marx contributed to this project, constructed on the 4.3 million m2 hacienda that once belonged to former Venezuelan president Eleazar López Contreras.On November 19, 1991, Miranda's Legislative Assembly gave El Hatillo full autonomy, making it an independent municipality; this decision was issued in Gaceta Oficial on January 17, 1992.The Guaire river is the eastern limit of the municipality, separating it from Sucre and Paz Castillo in the southeastern sector of El Hatillo.[17] The municipality is home to a wide range of bird species, with more than two hundred registered, including sparrowhawks, eagles, falcons, and owls.[17] In the 16th century, the indigenous Mariches were killed by the explorers;[1] when the development of El Hatillo began, Spaniards from the Canary Islands settled in the area.[21] In the 2001 National Institute of Statistics census, El Hatillo Municipality had 54,225 inhabitants,[22] but demographics show a rapidly rising population.Neighborhoods like La Lagunita, Los Naranjos and El Hatillo Town now offer large scale shopping malls with multiplex movie theaters.Since the 1980s, the older typical houses of El Hatillo Town have been converted to shops and restaurants, while preserving their colonial architecture.[34] Employment possibilities within El Hatillo – a bedroom community of Caracas – are reduced; businesses in the municipality are almost strictly commercial, and the economy has not expanded in other directions.[38] Chávez mentioned his reform plans again in his January 2007 presidential inauguration, suggesting a new form of subdivision—communal cities—in which mayors and municipalities would be replaced by communal powers.[44] The municipality has one higher education facility – Nueva Esparta University, a 30,000 square meters (323,000 sq ft) institution located in Los Naranjos.Manuel Escalona is recognised for including El Hatillo in the 19th century independence movement; as in the rest of Venezuela, Simón Bolívar is considered a hero.During the Guipuzcoana scandal in Venezuela, Baltasar's father, Juan Francisco de León, and his sons were held prisoners in Cádiz.Juan Francisco died as a consequence of smallpox, but Don Baltasar completed his years in prison and then moved to El Hatillo.Baltasar brought the legacy of Santa Rosalía de Palermo to El Hatillo, believing she protected him from the pestilence that killed his father in Cádiz.[50] Since the 1766 founding of El Hatillo, a week-long festival honoring Santa Rosalía de Palermo (Spanish: Fiestas Patronales en honor a Santa Rosalía de Palermo) is held in September featuring parades, Catholic masses, and traditional games, concluding with the traditional release of balloons accompanied by fireworks.The third Sunday of May is the festival of Dama antañona, in which residents pay homage to the women of El Hatillo, with typical food and gifts.[57] Continuing cultural promotion in the municipality, the III Salón de Fotografía El Hatillo – a photography contest for children, amateur and professional photographers – was organised in October 2005.The Four Corners (Spanish: Las Cuatro Esquinas) was a convenient social gathering spot in El Hatillo, comprising a general store, hardware shop, gambling place and bar.The building is an architectural work from the 16th century, brought from Romania, made completely from oak and fir woods, and detailed with more than 40,000 individually placed and carved tiles.[64] However, as of January 2006, a new route that will connect La Lagunita with Macaracuay – a neighborhood in northeast Caracas – is under construction and is planned to be completed in 2010; according to Mayor Catalán, 23% of El Hatillo's inhabitants will eventually use this transit way.
HatilloMunicipalityMirandaVenezuelaMunicipal seatEl Hatillo, Miranda, VenezuelaTime zoneUTC−4Postal codeArea code(s)SpanishMunicipioadministrative divisionState of MirandaBarutaChacaoLibertadormunicipalitiesCaracascapitalmunicipal governmentEl Hatillo TownDon Baltasar de LeónSpanish colonisationconstitutioncolonial architectureparish churchRomanian Orthodox ChurchgastronomyvisitorsagricultureemployeeMarichesindigenous peopleKalinaTamanacoresistingDiego de LosadaDon Baltasar de León GarcíaCádizGuipuzcoana CompanyparishbishopCanarybrother-in-lawgrid streetsSanta Rosalía de PalermolandlordLieutenant ColonelPetareSimón Bolívar1812 earthquakeparcelBrazilianlandscape designerRoberto Burle MarxhaciendapresidentEleazar López ContrerasLandsat 7Libertador MunicipalityCapital DistrictTopographic mapEl VolcánPicacho de El Volcánprecipitationhumiditytrade windswater bodiesvegetationforestsshrubsspeciessparrowhawkseaglesfalconsBirdwatchingProjectedpopulation growthSpaniardsCanary IslandsMadeiraPortugalColombiacensusyears of potential life lostcancerheart diseasemurderPopulation pyramidunemploymentwealthextremely poorhouseholdVenezuelan bolívaresneighborhoodsshopping mallcommercialagriculturaltourismsouvenirsshopping mallsmovie theatersbedroom communitycouncillorscomptrolleraccountancyAlfredo Catalánpolitical partyJustice FirstHugo ChávezdecreedMetropolitan District of Caracasconstitutional reformpolicehigher educationpublic educationprimary educationschoolsprivatepreschoolssecondary educationschool yearCatholicSanta Rosa de LimaSeminary