The design of the stamp is based on a map entitled Plano de una Parte del Orinoco, drawn in 1733 by Don Pablo Dias Faxardo, an engineer for the Spanish King. It shows the course of the Orinoco River from its mouths to a place near the Isla de Faxardo, where the Caroni River joins the Orinoco.

     In 1724 Capuchin Fathers from Catalan left Cumana, the first town founded by Europeans on the South American mainland, to convert the native Pariagotos along the Orinoco River to Christianity. In this area the Capuchin Fathers established missions among the Indians. The first mission, Purisima Concepcion de Suay was founded in 1724. Others were founded at Caroni in 1725, Santa Maria in 1726, and at Maruca in 1730.
     The original map is in the Archives of the Indies at Seville, Spain. The stamp was issued, as a part of a set, in 1968 to commemorate the Christianization of Venezuela and the founding of Caracas, Venzuela.