Maracaibo is Venezuela's second city and its oil capital — a hot, flat, industrial place on the northwestern shore of Lake Maracaibo. It is not the most picturesque city in the country, but it has its own energy and a few genuinely worthwhile corners.
The Santa Bárbara historic district near the waterfront has been restored with care, and the streets of 19th-century colonial houses are the most characterful part of the city. The Basilica de la Chinita, the city's main church, is the spiritual centre of Maracaibo — the November Feria de la Chinita is the city's defining celebration. The General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge, one of the longest concrete bridges in Latin America, crosses the strait where the lake meets the Gulf of Venezuela.
The most famous spectacle near Maracaibo is the Catatumbo Lightning — near-continuous lightning over the lake's southwest corner that lights the night horizon and has served as a natural lighthouse for sailors since the colonial era. The indigenous Añu communities at Sinamaica Lagoon, 65 kilometres north of the city, still live in houses built on stilts over the water — the sight that supposedly gave Venezuela its name.
Maracaibo sits 500 km west of Caracas, close to the Colombian border.