Their houses were built on artificial mounds in valleys that were often flooded by water from Lake Valencia.

Valencia was founded by Captain Alonso Díaz Moreno on March 25, 1555 – as the locals are proud of reminding visitors, eight years before Caracas.

In 1677 it was raided by French pirates, who burnt down its City Hall, thus destroying many very important documents about the early settlement of Venezuela.

The German scientist Alexander von Humboldt visited the city on his trip through the Americas.

On June 24, 1821, the battle of Carabobo was fought near the city, sealing the independence of Venezuela from imperial Spanish rule.

It ceased to be the capital soon afterward, becoming once more the seat of the national government in 1858 after the Monagas brothers were toppled and the March Revolution took place.

When dictator Juan Vicente Gómez died in 1935, Nueva Valencia del Rey was a small city.

Many immigrants, firstly from Europe and increasingly then from other Latin American countries, chose Nueva Valencia del Rey as the place to live in Venezuela.

Venezuelan law specifies that every municipal government must have four main functions: executive, legislative, comptroller, and planning.

The direction of the University and some administratives centres are located in the Valencia Municipality, whereas most of the buildings are currently in the Naguanagua of the same city.

In 1887, Antonio Guzmán Blanco the president of Venezuela, decided to remodel the square, erecting a monumental column.

The city is well connected with the rest of the country by a network of highways and roads maintained by INVIAL.

Valencia is home of the Venezuelan LVBP baseball team Navegantes del Magallanes.