Altamira is the planned 1940s upper-middle-class neighbourhood that became the symbolic heart of eastern Caracas. The centrepiece is the Plaza Francia — also called Plaza Altamira — a circular Beaux-Arts square laid out around a 47-metre obelisk that was inaugurated in 1945. Six avenues radiate out from the obelisk in a star pattern; the Ávila looms directly behind it to the north.
Around the plaza sits a dense ring of restaurants, cafés, hotels, and apartment blocks, anchored by the Altamira metro station to the south. The neighbourhood was the focal point of the major opposition protests of 2002–2003 and 2017, when it served as the gathering point for marches up the Avenida Francisco de Miranda. Today it remains one of the safer and more pleasant districts of the city, with good walking, decent food, and what little is left of a normal Caracas evening.