{{Short description|City in Vargas, Venezuela}} {{Expand Spanish|topic=gov|date=February 2009|Macuto (Venezuela)}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Macuto | official_name = San Bartolomé de Macuto | nickname = | motto = | image_skyline = Vista Playas de Macuto.JPG | image_caption = | image_seal = | pushpin_map = Venezuela | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_type1 = State | subdivision_type2 = Municipality | subdivision_name = {{flagicon|Venezuela}}Venezuela | subdivision_name1 = Vargas | subdivision_name2 = Macuto Municipality | established_title = Founded | established_date = 24 August 1740 | established_title2 = | established_date2 = | government_type = | leader_title = | leader_name = | area_total_km2 = | population_as_of = 2023 | population_footnotes = | population_total = 25506 | population_density_km2 = | timezone = VST | utc_offset = | coordinates = {{coord|10|36|24|N|66|53|33|W|region:VE-X|display=it}} | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | population_blank1_title = | population_blank1 = | area_code = | postal_code_type = | postal_code = | blank_name = Climate | blank_info = BSh | website = | footnotes = }} '''Macuto''' is a seaside city in Vargas state, Venezuela. The city has a long history of attracting Venezuelan political leaders and artists, and popular tourist site today.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jscTCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT211|title=National Geographic Learning's Visual Geography of Travel and Tourism|publisher=Cengage Learning|year=2015|isbn=9781133951261|pages=182}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=Historia de La Guzmania - Casa Presidencial|url=https://www.actualidad-24.com/2018/06/historia-casa-presidencial-la-guzmania.html|last=actualidad-24.com|language=es|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515171624/https://www.actualidad-24.com/2018/06/historia-casa-presidencial-la-guzmania.html|archive-date=2020-05-15|access-date=2020-05-15}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last=Cotter|first=Holland|date=2007-02-09|title=Modernist in Loincloth and Feathers|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/arts/design/09reve.html|access-date=2020-05-15|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
== History == Macuto was founded in August 1740 on the site of an indigenous village called Guaicamacuto ("basket of thorns"). It is known for its beaches, and for the nearby town of Galipán on the mount Avila, famous for its flowers.
thumb|300px|left|Macuto beach in 1911Since the 19th century, Macuto has served as a resort town for many in Caracas and other nearby areas. Large streets and private homes were constructed during that time, and Macuto began being known as a place where several Venezuelan presidents spent time off and received international dignitaries. In 1885, Antonio Guzmán Blanco ordered the construction of a large manor known as "La Guzmania", which has subsequently been used as a residence for a number of Venezuelan leaders, including Juan Vicente Gómez, Marcos Pérez Jiménez, and Wolfgang Larrazábal.<ref name=":3" /> A high-end hotel called the Miramar was inaugurated in the 1920s, but is no longer in operation.
Macuto served as the hideaway and final residence of Venezuelan artist Armando Reverón, a modernist painter and craftsman, who built a compound of huts surrounded by a wall, which he named "El Castillete" ("little castle").<ref name=":1" /> From 1921 onwards, he lived with his companion Juanita, his dolls, and other handmade objects.<ref name=":1" /> While in Macuto, Reverón attracted much attention for his unusual lifestyle, which, along with his paintings depicting the town, helped Macuto gain notability.<ref name=":1" />thumb|300px|Miramar Hotel in 1929
On May 3 and 4, 2020, Macuto was one of the sites of the failed Operation Gideon, where a small group contracted by an American mercinary company named Silvercorp USA headed by Jordan Goudreau attempted to invade via sea to capture Nicolás Maduro and remove him from power.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|date=2020-05-08|title=Trump denies role in Venezuela incursion|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-52592824|access-date=2020-05-15}}</ref> Eight of the attackers were killed, with another thirteen, including two Americans, captured.<ref name=":2" />
== Tourism == Macuto|thumb|200px|left
Macuto is a popular resort town, aided by its close proximity to Caracas.<ref name=":0" /> The town has been the subject of many paintings, including those by Armando Reverón, Arturo Michelena, Cristobal Rojas, Martín Tovar y Tovar and others.
Macuto is linked to Caracas by highway & "avenida" roads. Other tourism infrastructure in the town includes hotels and golf courses.
== See also == * Armando Reverón
== References == {{Reflist}}
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Category:Cities in Vargas (state)