Santiago de los Caballeros

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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 most important city in the Dominican Republic on the island of Hispaniola. Also known as Santiago de los 30 Caballeros. It is the head of the province Santiago.

1 History
2 Present day
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] History

The original colony was in Jacagua, but when this 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.

Image:Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration.JPG

On a hill overlooking Santiago is a 67 meter 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".

[edit] Present day

Santiago is Dominican Republic's second largest city and the third largest in the island of Hispaniola. Santiago has a population of more than 600,000 inhabitants. Its most important economic activity is in the service sector, having one of the largest tax-free zone parks in the country.

Santiago de los Caballeros is served by Cibao International Airport, which was completed in 2001. The city is also home to the Aguilas Cibaeñas baseball team and several major universities, including PUCMM (Pontifícia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra) and UTESA (La Universidad Tecnológica de Santiago).

[edit] Trivia

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.