Casa La Blanquera Museum

The Casa la Blanquera Museum is a colonial baroque building this beautiful house that today is a symbol of the Cojedeña culture, is located on Avenida Bolivar, crossing with Falcón of the city of San Carlos Cojedes state, has its origins in the second half of the century XVIII, like most of the portentosos colonial buildings that marked the era of splendor in this historic city.

The construction was started by an empowered livestock family from the lands of Andalusia (Spain) with the surname Blanco y Salazar. The construction of this property took place between 1781 and 1782 and not before, as it has been mistakenly believed, confusion is generated by the lack of documents and research in this regard, and information published in a booklet entitled "Biography of the House de la Blanquera ", published in 1961 by Dr. José Carillo Moreno, where although it is true that there is no clear statement about its origin, it is understood that this house was the home used as a residence by Don José Blanco and his wife Mrs. Clara Teresa Salazar, and as such is the one that he leaves reflected in his testament prepared in the year 1770. Nothing is more uncertain. The house that appears described in this document it's found diagonally to La Blanquera, the same one that several years ago was the victim of a voracious fire in which the former governor of the Cojedes state, Elías Nazar Arroyo, perished.

The Blanquera in its origins was a house of height (a house of two plants) whose dimensions tripled the spaces that its current scope occupies, modification that underwent in the process of reconstruction to which it was submitted from 1961, in which only it was rebuilt ground floor, with altered environments in relation to the original plan.

THE HEIRS

This dwelling initially served as the residence of Don Antonio Blanco (one of the 7 children of the Blanco-Salazar marriage), was a prominent man from the Villa de San Carlos who in 1792 was a councilor.

The Blanco brothers: Martin, Alejandro, Sebastián, Santiago, Josefina, Antonio and Rosalía, had no children, leaving their successor rights to the latter (Rosalía) which survived all, who in turn left as legitimate heir to his Germana servant Blanco, who according to some elements of oral tradition was a daughter of Martin Blanco in a black slave of a relative of his.

BOLÍVAR IN THE BLANQUERA

It is said that in June 1821 this beautiful mansion served as a lodging and headquarters to El Libertador Simón Bolívar and his staff, who for more than two weeks resided in it and in its precinct they planned the strategy that allowed the patriot army to break the chains of the Spanish yoke on the morning of June 24, 1821, in the immortal savannah of Carabobo.

THE LITIGATION FOR THE HOUSE

In February of 1864 a Litis began for the possession of this house, which at that time was in ruinous condition. The lawsuit was initiated by Juan Manuel Dorantes as heir of Don Juan Miguel Manrique (Dorantes was the husband of his daughter Manuela Manrique) he claims that this property had been donated to Manrique and in his defensive arguments they claim to be the owners and possessors of the house what high located about sixty yards from the Church of San Juan, to the west and on the royal street. From its construction until today the aforementioned high house has always been owned by the Blanco family, being the undersigned and descendants of Germana Blanco those who have owned rights without any contradiction.

PROPERTY OF THE NATION

For a long time the house was deteriorating and falling into ruins until it reached the point of extinction. In these conditions and given its historical value, the Government Cojedes state decided its expropriation in January 1942, which then became public property, and 19 years later, through the efforts of Dr. José Carrillo Moreno and Luis Torres, the government contracted to the architect Graziano Gasparini to undertake its reconstruction. On April 12, 1977 La Blanquera was declared a Historic Monument of the Nation. According to Official Gazette No. 31212.

MYSTICISM AROUND THE BLANQUERA

La Blanquera more than an old house of the colonial period icon of our history as a state, it contains many myths and legends that we have heard from our grandparents and parents since we were children, among them the most interesting one is a supposed tunnel that communicates the blanquera with the church San juan Bautista, some historians say that the connection is with all the churches of San Carlos. Something anecdotal was that those who financed the construction of the Chapel of San Juan Bautista that is just 50 meters from the old house were the main owners of the Blanquera. Now although it is still only legends there is something that calls me powerfully the attention and is that today where supposedly was the entrance to the tunnel, they built a fountain that today is not working.

Going back to the history of the tunnel and contextualizing that the Blanquera was from Los Blancos, and these in turn built the chapel, then yes it can be probable that if there is such a tunnel (an enigma) remember that at the time of the colony there was much suspicion, and families lived among eccentricities and this may be one of them, they say that they (The Whites) went to mass through the tunnel that took them directly to the chapel to not mix with the rest of society, another story is that in the supposed tunnel is a treasure of morocots and precious jewels owned by the Whites, and that in the earthquake of 1812 collapsed (the tunnel) with the treasure inside, others told that it was the realist troops who were responsible for taking all the precious jewels and valuable object that rested there. Our house La Blanquera keeps a lot of history in it, one thing is what I tell you and another is what you,friend reader, feel and live when you visit it.

THE BLANQUERA IN OUR TIME

At present, this one-story house is white in color and has columns of indigenous features with feather ornaments on its head. Today is a museum and inside there are objects from the colonial era, such as an old printing press and the bell of the church of San José de Mapuey, which has the date of 1801 marked, in addition and historical photographs.

The Casa La Blanquera Museum offers visitors the possibility of observing in its display cases different historical elements, such as pottery vessels and crafts from pre-Hispanic eras, not only found in Cojedes, but also in different parts of the country and the world, that belonged to the Cojedeño anthropologist Tobias Mariño, ranging from vessels to small pieces of crafts that constitute an invaluable heritage for national and international history and culture.

In another part of the room, you can see pieces used both in the colonial era and in the war of independence of Venezuela, among which may be mentioned: sabers, swords, bayonet tips, a replica of the sword of the liberator, and various objects personal items that were used by the hero tinaquero José Laurencio Silva. Likewise, the museum includes the patio of the petroglyphs, the room with different samples of arts and objects of historical value, a library with relevant texts in different areas.

At the end of the tour of this majestic and mystical mansion, we got with the beautiful mascot, his name is Pepe and has lived in the place for a many years. At the time of taking the photo (made from my phone Huawei Y300) Pepe was prepared to eat a delicious mango.Fypical fruit at this time of year in our wonderful state Cojedes.

By: Luis Gerardo Sanchez

Note: All photos were taken from my Huawei Y300 phone