The Renaissance of Sabana Grande
Sabana Grande is a 2km boulevard that runs from Chacaito metro station in the east to Plaza Venezuela metro station in the west, with the Sabana Grande metro station lying half-way between them. Officially called Avenida Abraham Lincoln, it is universally known as Bulevar Sabana Grande here and in many ways its history reflects the recent history of Caracas.
For many decades, Caraqueños and tourists alike used to stroll along the wide, peaceful pedestrian street to shop or to relax in its cafes. Many hotels were built, especially at the Plaza Venezuela end, to cater for the expected increase in the number of tourists. Then it all went wrong.
First, the area around Plaza Venezuela became a red-light zone and Sabana Grande developed a reputation for being unsafe after sunset. Then in the late 1990's came the invasion of the buhoneros, or illegal street sellers. From an initial trickle, it quickly became a torrent and within a few years Sabana Grande was packed from end to end with stalls selling everything from clothes to pirated videos and music. Pickpockets and worse followed and within a short time the tourists had vanished and most Caraqueños avoided the area. Along with the shanty towns in the hills, Sabana Grande became one of the iconic images that led to Caracas being dismissed as a prime example of urban chaos.
Today, this has all changed, although the changes are not yet reflected in many guidebooks and internet travel sites. If your guidebook says Sabana Grande is dangerous, it is seriously out of date!
In fact, the buhoneros were relocated to legal sites in January 2007 and Sabana Grande has been a peaceful shopping and recreation street ever since. We don't want to labour an obvious point but all of the photographs on this page were taken by someone who looked distinctly non-Venezuelan walking around Sabana Grande with a brand-new digital camera, openly taking photographs.
The first thing that the city authorities did when they reclaimed Sabana Grande was to greatly increase security in the area with the introduction of CCTV cameras and security police. The security police wear yellow jackets with the words "CARACAS SEGURA" (Safe Caracas) on the back and there are plenty of them patrolling the entire boulevard during the day.
They're not just in Sabana Grande, either; you can see them in La Calandaria, the Bellas Artes museum district and the historic centre as well.
Sabana Grande is particularly popular on Saturdays with families, especially those with young children. In addition to the shopping (especially clothes and shoes) and the cafes, there is usually also a wide range of free entertainment on offer.
On a typical Saturday afternoon, you might see a musical or theatre performance in the street, free art classes for children, stilt-walkers and clowns, as well as ice-cream vendors, balloon-sellers, or a candy-floss stall, all giving a carnival atmosphere to an area that has now been thoroughly revitalized.
This hotel just off Sabana Grande is one of many buildings in the area that have been recently renovated or are are under construction as this historic part of Caracas is regenerated.
In fact, renovation and construction is taking place all over Caracas, from the renovation of the Boliverian museum in the city centre to the construction of a new museum of national art in Bellas Artes and many new housing projects and shopping malls in different parts of the city, along with continuing investment to expand the metro.
Before the decline of Sabana Grande in the 1990's, the best known image of the boulevard was of the chess games in the street and you can still buy photographs and posters depicting these from many internet sites.
The tradition never quite died out even when the noise in the street made it impossible to hear yourself think but, like Sabana Grande itself, it is enjoying a renaissance.
So instead of buying an old photograph, why not come and take a new one? Better still, challenge someone to a game; after all, you don't need to speak Spanish to play chess.
Please remember that everything we say on this page refers to daylight hours. We still classify Sabana Grande and the historic centre as YELLOW zones i.e. you can confidently explore them during the day but we recommend that you don't walk around the streets after 6pm. See our "ABC of Finding Your Way Around Caracas" page for more detailed information.