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La Blanquera (Palace of the Blanco family) is aSpanish Colonial building in the city ofSan Carlos inVenezuela. This house was built by a wealthy family of cattle ranchers from the lands of Andalucia, Spain by the name of Blanco y Salazar during the second half of the 18th century. This house is white and hasBaroque decorative features including columns with aborigines wearing feathered headgear. According to the traditional story, Don Joseph Blanco y Salazar built and used this house as a place of retirement for him and his family after the pacification of theApure aborigines.
Theconquistador Don Joséph (José) Blanco y Salazar was born in October 1690 in the Spanish village ofGalaroza in the archbishopric ofSeville, Spain, the son of theAlférez Juan Martin Blanco and María Salazar y Sánchez. He traveled toVenezuela when was just a boy around 1702 at the side of his uncle and father of his future wife, Don Francisco Salazar y Sánchez. There he joined theThird Order of Saint Francis to comply with the royal decree of colonization of the Indies of 1676. Don José, along with his ancestors, participated in the conquest of what is today the estate ofApure looking to also expand his congested cattle lands in San Carlos.[1]
On 28 August 1726 he married his maternal cousin, Clara Teresa Salazar y Sánchez, daughter of Don Francisco. The couple had seven children: María Rosalía, José Santiago, Sebastián Fabián, Alejandro, Juan Martín, Juana Josefa, y Francisco Antonio. For his legendary exploits, these conquered lands were granted to him by theKing of Spain through a royal decree...
"As a gift, in thankfulness for having been the Discoverers of Apure and its Founders"[citation needed]
The illustrious home was expropriated as abandoned on 20 October 1942 by the local government. In 1977, at a ceremony where legitimate descendants of the Blanquera succession participated (today the Guillén family), it was declared a historical monument.[citation needed]
Italian architectGraziano Gasparini spearheaded the reconstruction of the house that now serves as culture house to the people of San Carlos. Inside there are colonial objects, including an old church bell from 1801 and historical paintings and photographs.[citation needed]