Santiago de los Caballeros

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Coordinates: 19°27′N 70°42′W / 19.45, -70.7
Santiago de los Caballeros
Central Santiago Area, Notice of a growing city
Nickname: La Ciudad , La Ciudad Del Corazon

Country	Dominican Republic
Province	Santiago Province
Municipality	Santiago de los Caballeros
Founded	1495
Government
- Mayor (Síndico)	José Enrique Sued
Area
- Total	2.839 km² (Province) km² (Expression error: Unrecognised word "km" sq mi)
Population (2006)
- Total	750,000 (approx.)
Website: Portal del ciudadano

Founded in 1495 during the first wave of European colonization of the New World, today Santiago de los Caballeros (the first "Santiago" of America) is the second largest metropolis in the Dominican Republic on the island of Hispaniola. ^[1] Also known as Santiago de los 30 Caballeros, (Or simply "Santiago", as it is referred to in the Dominican Republic) is the capital of Santiago Province.

1 History
2 Economy
- 2.1 Growth and Development
3 Geography
4 Education
5 Nightlife
- 5.1 Restaurants
6 Transportation:
7 New and planned projects
8 Sports
9 Architecture
10 Sites of Interest
11 Trivia
12 External links
13 References

The original colony was in the city of Jacagua, but when it was destroyed by an earthquake, it was moved to its present location in 1506. It was devastated by another earthquake in 1562. Santiago de los Caballeros has sometimes been the capital of the country, and was an important strategic city in the Dominican War of Independence in 1844. They want to be the capital of the country again so bad that now they called themselves the capital of El Cibao just to feel closer to their dream.[1]

The city of Santiago, as most of the Cibao region, is hugely dependent in the Fertile lands of the region.^{[citation needed]}This makes Santiago de los Caballeros an important region for farming and livestock. The city has been recently growing into a service predominant provider.^{[citation needed]}The sector has grown a lot in the recent years making it great for expansion. It should be noted that Santiago is the 2nd most important city in the Dominican Republic after Santo Domingo de Guzman and due to that case it produces the 2nd highest percentage of the nations GDP. Telecommunications like wireless, cable, internet and other forms hold an important part of the city too. Even though it has shown progress throughout the years the city has to deal with the major power outages that hold back its development. Tourism too, holds an important part in the city's economy.^{[citation needed]}

Like Santo Domingo, Santiago has recently experienced an era of rapid growth and development. It has become a city of great importance for the nation and the region's development. Santiago like any other fast growing city is faced with numerous problems including precarious Electricity and Water infrastructure just to name a few.^{[citation needed]} The approximate population of Santiago is in the range of 750,000 inhabitants, but with the undocumented Haitian immigrants the population could raise to over 1 Million inhabitants. The fastest growing community in the city of Santiago is La Trinitaria.^{[citation needed]}

Santiago de los Caballeros is located on a hilly terrain in the middle of the Cibao Valley in the Central Region of the Dominican Republic, one of the most fertile lands found in the Republic.^{[citation needed]} The Yaque del Norte river passes by Santiago which is in between Cordillera Central and Cordillera Oriental, two of the three major mountain ranges on the island of Hispaniola, forming the Cibao Valley.^{[citation needed]}

Santiago is home of several universities including Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) and Universidad Tecnológica de Santiago (UTESA). Other higher learning institutions present in Santiago are: Universidad Organización & Método (O&M), Universidad Abierta para Adultos (UAPA), Universidad Nacional Evangélica and one regional campus belonging to the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo.

Santiago has a blooming nightlife around the Monument area.^{[citation needed]}Dozens of restaurants circle the center of the city making it an active nightlife area. bars, clubs, and the park surrounding the monument provide recreation and fun attracting crowds of the city's inhabitants and tourists as well.^{[citation needed]} The central portion of the city has an extremely active nightlife which is considered by many to be the best nightlife in the country.^{[citation needed]}The cibaeños have a love for merengue tipico which creates an entertaining and exciting atmosphere on a nightly basis.^{[citation needed]}

Restaurante Pez Dorado: Located in la calle del sol, this is one of the more prestigious restaurants of Santiago and is one of the most visited in the city.

Cafetto Bar & Restaurant: Located in a hilly part of the city, you can see the Cibao Valley and Santiago City Completely. It is a very nice place for a special dinners.^{[citation needed]}

Camp David: It is located in the Santiago-Puerto Plata Way. It is one of the most upscale restaurants in Santiago. It has a mountain view at 1200 meters above sea level.^{[citation needed]} Camp David has a panoramic view of Santiago, that might be the best place to view the city. You will also find some of the most expensive and exquisite food of Santiago.

Montezuma: It is located in the Monumental Zone. This restaurant is one of the most visited in Santiago, because of its Azteca style and its very good food.^{[citation needed]}

Kukaramakara: It is located Next to Montezuma and its style is inspired by the Wild West. They present famous artists of typical Dominican music.

Cibao Intl Airport in 2003

Carros Públicos: Santiago does not have an efficient form of transportation, there is however “Carros Públicos” (conchos) and private and independent bus owners who form their own routes according to demands.^{[citation needed]}

Inter-City Bus Transportation: The city has private bus transportation to other important cities. Bus companies include Metro, Caribe Tours, Transporte Espinal, Aetra Bus.^{[citation needed]}

Highways: The Autopista Juan Pablo Duarte Officially known as DR-1 passes by the city center and connects the city directly to Santo Domingo. Other minor highways connect the city to Puerto Plata, Samana, and the northeastern region of the country. Overall, Santiago has a fine connection througth highways to the rest of the country.^{[citation needed]}

Airports: The Cibao International Airport serves mostly Dominicans living in the United States and other Caribbean islands like Cuba, Turks and Caicos Islands, Puerto Rico and Panama. [2].

Proposed Rail System: The construction of a light metro rail is in planning stages. It's scheduled to be started by August 2007. Financing is to be by a private firm, the State Rail System of Spain (FEVE). The Light rail system will connect the City center to the Airport and shorten the amount of time of trips.

HOMS – The HOMS is the largest hospital in Santiago and the most modern of the Dominican Republic. It will have two towers with fourteen floors each, one of them being for doctor's offices and the other for examination and observation rooms. Formal Inauguration is planned to August 16, 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Gran Cibao Hotel – It is the largest hotel in the Cibao region. It will have approximately 11 floors and it will enter into service shortly.

Light Rail in Santiago – A Light Rail development in the city's metro area has been proposed. If completed it will be the second city In the nation to have a mass transit system and would be e 5.5 km longer than the Metro of Santo Domingo. The Light Rail will have 12 stops, its route will be from the Cemetery to the Airport. Construction is scheduled to begin in October 2007 and to be operating 14 months thereafter.^{[citation needed]}

Electric “Highway” from Santo Domingo – Santiago's power comes from Puerto Plata, but the government commenced the building of the Electric “Highway” that will feed Santiago electric energy from Santo Domingo's generators. construction started in February of 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Central Park of Santiago – The Central Park of Santiago is projected to be constructed on the land of the now defunct old Cibao International Airport that now lodges the regional seat of the National Police and the offices of the Association for Development.^{[citation needed]}

The industrialists of Santiago have defended the project since it is considered to be a solution to the lack of green spaces suitable for relaxation in the city. Nevertheless it has been argued that the granting of contracts for the different phases from this project violate the frame of transparency and legality. In the Strategic Plan of Santiago it is indicated that the construction of the Metropolitan Park would increase the Santiagos green area from its currently 1.1% to 4%.^{[citation needed]}

As much as the nation does, Santiago residents enjoy baseball and love to see the Dominican winter season with the local team being the Aguilas Cibaeñas. [3]. Besides baseball, basketball is also played at a professional level in the city of Santiago. The institution in charge of organizing these events is the Asociación de Baloncesto de Santiago de los Caballeros (ABASACA) [4]

Palace of Justice in Santiago

Catedral de Santiago: The Cathedral of Santiago was built in 1895 by Onofre de Lora, an architect native to the city. [5]

Hermanos Patiño Bridge:

The Hermanos Patiño Bridge is both the largest and oldest bridge in the city connectiing the North and South sides of the city of Santiago.^{[citation needed]} It's Construction was started by Rafael Leonidas Trujillo and inaugurated in 1962, one year after his death. The Bridge is named after the two brothers that died in an effort to put an end to Trujillo's Regiment and dictatorship in the Dominican Republic in the mid 20th Centuy. [6]

Monument to the Heroes of Restoration:

The Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration, as seen in December 2005.

On a hill overlooking Santiago is a 67 meters (220 ft) high marble monument. Construction of the monument began in 1944 on the orders of then-dictator Rafael Trujillo. He named it the "Monument of the Peace of Trujillo". Trujillo was assassinated in 1961, after which the monument was renamed the "Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration", in remembrance of the Independence Restoration War of 1863, in which the Dominican Republic regained its independence from Spain. [7]

Estadio Cibao
Monumento de Santiago
Centro Leon
La Trinitaria
Hotel Gran Cibao
Hotel Gran Almirante
Hotel Hodelpa Centro Plaza
Colinas Mall
Plaza Internacional
Centro Español
Country Club Santiago

The ``Centro Leon´´ in Santiago, is a modern museum that shows the Dominican Culture and some Dominican habits and National Parks

There are some interesting museums in Santiago that show the culture of this northern city. Some of them are:

Museo Folklórico Yoryi Morel : This Museum is located in the Historic City Center in the Restauracion Street. This museum shows the Santiago's Carnival Culture, it have some interesting wearings of the Lechones the vestiments of Santiago Province in the Carnival they also shows vestiments of some others provinces.

Museo del Tabaco: or The Tobacco Museum is located in the Town Center. Different manufacturing methods as well as the effect of the tobacco plantations along the city's history.

Museo Histórico Fortaleza San Luis: or Historic San Luis Fort Museum is located in front of the Yaque del Norte River, Southwestern Santiago. It previously served as a municipal prison. [8]

Museo de los Héroes de la Restauración: or Restauration Heroes Museum (under Construction) is located in The Santiago Monument. It will show the Restauration War Pictures that occurred in 1863-1865 between the Dominican Government and the Spanish army. [9]

Centro León: This Museum is located in the 27 de Febrero Avenue. It shows the Caribbean Culture, the Dominican Culture, the Natural Dominican History, Natives Indians Evolution and Culture. Also, it periodically hosts different art exhibitions of Dominican and international artists. The museum is under the authority of the León Jimenes Foundation (owner of the Cervecería Nacional Dominicana as well as the Industria de Tabaco León Jimenes. [10]

Though not being a major touristic pole in the Dominican Republic (known mostly for its beach based tourism), there are multiple hotels currently operating in the city. Among them we can find:

Hotel Gran Cibao: (under construction) It is located in the Duarte Highway. It is expected that the presence of this five stars hotel, and one of the largest ever built in Santiago, hotel will help increase tourism in this city, as well as be an important part in the city's economy due to the creation of direct and indirect employment.

Courhtyard Marriott Hotel: It is located in Duarte Highway in Santiago-La Vega Route. It is another five stars hotel and it is near to the Cibao International Airport.

Hodelpa Gran Almirante: It is located in Estrella Sadhala Avenue. It hosts one of the few casinos in the city and is used for conventions and reunions.

Hodelpa Centro Plaza: With Casino, it is located in San Luis Street, in the City Center, so it is easy for visitors to visit the historic sites of the city and it is near of some of the museums mentioned above.^{[citation needed]}

Hotel Matum: It is located in Las Carreras Avenue in front of the Gran Teatro del Cibao. It is a four stars hotel with a Casino operating in its facilities.

Some of the recreational places found in Santiago are:

Centro Español: located in the Panamericana Avenue, this place is very visited during summer time by Santiago's population and also tourists. Many activities take place in it, such as sports like swimming, basketball, baseball, softball, football, golf, table games, and children summer camps. They also host parties with famous Dominican and international artists. Its access is restricted to registered members only. [11]

Gurabito Country Club: Another popular club located in Panamericana Avenue, it's another recreational center. They have sports activities, such as baseball and basketball. Parties with Dominican artist take place periodically in this club as well as some pool parties with other Dominicans singers. Access restricted to members only.^{[citation needed]}

Kaskada Agua Park: Located in Panamericana Avenue too, is a water theme park. Access is not restricted to members, which makes it more attractive for the general public.

Despite the fact that Santiago is the second largest city in the Dominican Republic, the metropolitan area of New York City has a larger population of Dominicans.^{[citation needed]}