Caracas

Caracas (Spanish pronunciation: [kaˈɾakas]), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital, the center of the Greater Caracas Area, and the largest city of Venezuela. Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range (Cordillera de la Costa). Terrain suitable for building lies between 760 and 910 m (2,490 and 2,990 ft) above sea level. The valley is close to the Caribbean Sea, separated from the coast by a steep 2,200 m (7,200 ft) high mountain range, Cerro El Ávila; to the south there are more hills and mountains.

The Metropolitan District of Caracas is made up of five municipalities: Libertador Municipality which is the only administrative division of the Venezuelan Capital District, and four other municipalities, which are within in Miranda State: Chacao, Baruta, Sucre, and El Hatillo. Libertador holds many of the government buildings and is the Capital District (Distrito Capital). The Distrito Capital had a population of 2,013,366 as of 2011, while the Metropolitan District of Caracas was estimated at 3,273,863 as of (2013). The Metropolitan Region of Caracas has an estimated population of 5,243,301.

Venezuela

Coordinates: 8°N 66°W / 8°N 66°W / 8; -66

Venezuela (ⁱ/ˌvɛnəˈzweɪlə/ VEN-ə-ZWAYL-ə; Spanish: [beneˈswela]), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish: República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a federal republic located on the northern coast of South America. It is bordered by Colombia on the west, Brazil on the south, Guyana on the east, and the islands of Trinidad and Tobago to the north-east. Venezuela's territory covers around 916,445 km² (353,841 sq mi) with an estimated population around 33,221,865. Venezuela is considered a state with extremely high biodiversity (currently ranks 7th in the world's list of nations with the most number of species), with habitats ranging from the Andes Mountains in the west to the Amazon Basin rain-forest in the south, via extensive llanos plains and Caribbean coast in the center and the Orinoco River Delta in the east.

Billo Frómeta

Billo Frómeta (born November 15, 1915 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - Caracas May 5, 1988) was a Dominican orchestra conductor, arranger and composer who lived and worked most of his life in Venezuela, where he is remembered.

Early career

Luis María Frómeta Pereira was born in Pimentel, Duarte Province, Dominican Republic, on November 15, 1915. He would move with his family to San Francisco de Macorís some years later. The school he attended there had compulsory music lessons, so he learned much of his musical training there.

In 1930, at the age of 15, he founded and was the resident conductor of the Banda del Cuerpo de Bomberos de Ciudad Trujillo (Ciudad Trujillo's Fire Brigade's Band). He also founded the Orquesta Sinfónica de Santo Domingo during this time.

In 1933, he moved back to Santo Domingo. During these years, he would meet and work with some of his closest friends and associates: Freddy Coronado, Ernesto Chapuseaux and Simó Damirón, whom he already knew from school . The Conjunto Tropical and the Santo Domingo Jazz Band were formed then, as well.

Tower of David

The Tower of David (Hebrew: מגדל דוד‎, Migdal David, Arabic: برج داود‎, Burj Daud), also known as the Jerusalem Citadel, is an ancient citadel located near the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem.

The citadel that stands today dates to the Mamluk and Ottoman periods. It was built on the site of an earlier ancient fortification of the Hasmonean, Herodian, Byzantine and Early Muslim periods, after being destroyed repeatedly during the last decades of Crusader presence in the Holy Land by Ayyubid and Mamluk rulers. It contains important archaeological finds dating back over 2,000 years including a quarry dated to the First Temple period, and is a popular venue for benefit events, craft shows, concerts, and sound-and-light performances.

Dan Bahat writes that the original three Hasmonean towers were altered by Herod, and that "The northeastern tower was replaced by a much larger, more massive tower, dubbed the "Tower of David" beginning in the 5th century C.E." The name "Tower of David" is due to Byzantine Christians who believed the site to be the palace of King David. They borrowed the name "Tower of David" from the Song of Songs, attributed to Solomon, King David's son, who wrote: "Thy neck is like the Tower of David built with turrets, whereon there hang a thousand shields, all the armor of the mighty men." (Song of Songs, 4:4)

Leones del Caracas

The Leones del Caracas (English: Caracas Lions) is a Venezuelan baseball team that currently plays in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League.

History

Cervecería Caracas was founded in 1942, after Cervecería Princesa, an early team, was bought and transformed into Caracas. At first, the team played its home games at the old Estadio Cerveza Caracas, which was located in the capital city of Caracas. The team was founded by Martín Tovar Lange and managed by big leaguer Alejandro Carrasquel.

The Princesa team played its last game on May 7, 1942. Then, Caracas debuted four days later with a 7–3 victory over the Criollos (English: Creoles). The game was played in Puerto Cabello, a city on the north coast of Venezuela. Caracas faced its later nemesis, the Navegantes del Magallanes for the first time on December 27 of that year, winning this now historic game by a 3–0 score.

In its first stage, the team won two championship titles before moving to the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League in January 1946.