RSSCoro is a colonial town in Venezuela, and makes for a great visit. It lies between the coast and the mountains and was named a national monument in 1950. UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site in 1993. The town has made considerable efforts to restore and maintain the relics of its rich history.
One of South America's first towns and Venezuela's first capital, it was founded by the Spanish in 1527 to suppress the slave hunting in the area. Later that year, it became the base of exploration for Welser, the German banking house to which Carlos I of Spain leased much of western Venezuela. When Welser's attempts to find El Dorado failed, it abandoned Coro in 1546 and over the next few centuries, the town's importance diminished and it was subjected to terrible looting from repeated pirate attacks. However, in the eighteenth century, it regained much of its old wealth and splendor by being the main supply centre for the Dutch colonies of Curacão and Bonaire. Most of the colonial structures present in the historic centre hail from that era.
