Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine January 2019 | Page 384

Castillo de Santa Rosa
This castle was built in 1683 by the Spanish. It is located in the city of La Asunción, and at one
time, became the prison of Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi, considered to be a heroine of the
Venezuelan War of Independence. In January, 1816, while in prison, she gave birth to a child but
due to the terrible circumstances of her imprisonment, the child died at birth.
Hers is a sad but resilient story. A victim of the Venezuelan War of Independence , most of her
family members were killed at an early age. At 15, she married General Juan Bautista Arismendi.
He was later made the Governor of Margarita but soon after, Spain instructed that he be
captured. He fled without his wife, and sought refuge in the mountains. She was subsequently
captured by the Spanish and imprisoned to exert pressure on her husband to surrender. The
castle was her prison between November 1815 and January 1816.
The castle is open to the public for viewing. Artifacts and paintings provide a brief history lesson.
Visitors may go for the history but a panoramic view of La Asunción can also be enjoyed from
this location.
The castle was declared a National
Monument in 1965 by President Raúl Leoni.