The Museo de Arte Colonial occupies the Quinta de Anauco, a handsome colonial-era house that feels far removed from the scale and noise of modern Caracas. Rooms of religious art, furniture, domestic objects, and period detail give a sense of elite life in the city before oil, highways, and high-rises remade the valley.
The house is as important as the collection. Its courtyards, rooflines, and gardens make the visit slower and more atmospheric than many of Caracas's institutional museums. It is a good counterpoint to the city's 20th-century architecture and political monuments.