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Theme Week Dominican Republic – Puerto Plata

Thursday, 28 November 2024 - 12:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: Caribbean / Karibik
Category/Kategorie: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post Puerto Plata, officially known as San Felipe de Puerto Plata; (French: Port-de-Plate) is a major coastal city in the Dominican Republic, and capital of the province of Puerto Plata. The city is a major trading port. Puerto Plata has resorts such as Playa Dorada and Costa Dorada, which are located east of the city proper. There are 100,000 hotel beds in the city. The first aerial tramway of the Caribbean is located in Puerto Plata, in which visitors can ride up to the Pico Isabel de Torres, a 793-meter (2600-foot) high mountain within the city.

The city’s history dates back to the early 16th century, when Spanish colonists founded a small colonial settlement in the region. During the first decades of the existence of the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, the settlement was considered the main commercial and maritime port of the island. In 1605, it was depopulated and destroyed by order of Philip III of Spain to counter raids by English privateers and pirates; a hundred years later, the city was repopulated with farmers from the Canary Islands. From 1822 to 1844 the city was under Haitian control. From 1844 on began the period of the republic, in which the city began to recover its maritime and commercial boom. Beginning in 1865, the current Puerto Plata began to be built. This explains the Victorian style of much of its current architecture. By the end of the 19th century, Puerto Plata had become important for its cultural, social, maritime, and economic development.

The Municipality of San Felipe de Puerto Plata is prominent in agribusiness and tourism, making it a major contributor to the economic growth of the entire country. Other forms of income and economic development that serve to support some segments of the population include port management, sea vessel production, fishing, and textiles. The port has a significant impact in the national and provincial economy. The port receives cruise ships as well as general bulk freighters which export a variety of merchandise, including farm products and manufactured products in the duty-free zones of the region. A new cruise terminal, closer to the city than Carnival’s Amber Cove, is planned: Taino Bay, the new terminal is opened in December 2021.

The reports on the celebration of the carnival in the Puerto Plata date from the end of the 19th century. The central personage is the devil cojuelo, that in Puerto Plata becomes Taimáscaro, that produces deities Taínas in its masks, and a suit where elements of Spanish and culture are symbolized and the African essences, in multicolored tapes in its arms, and all that is complemented with the conches of the Atlantic Ocean, as natural elements of identity of the town Puertoplateño. These festivities are celebrated during the months of February and March, in the avenue of the Jetty and the streets of the city. The people are entertained by the parades of disguises, the music, the popular dances, and the different demonstrations of the arts reflecting cultural identity. Each year the organizers of the carnival choose the King Momo, representing the city that has fought to maintain its traditions.

The city of Puerto Plata is characterized by its dominant Victorian style architecture, combined with various other architectural styles, giving a varied character to the process of urban development. Inside this variety is the old style related to the colonial epoch, of which remains as an example the Fortress San Felipe. Another it is the traditional style, originated when the city was founded by migrant canarios, and of the one that the balconies are inherited, and as an example is the bridge of the Guinea, of the year 1879. Then developed the Victorian model, because of the French, Italian, German, and English immigration, and from other European countries, which began after the Dominican Restoration War and had its height at the end of the 19th century and start of the 20th. This style was utilized in dwellings and in buildings destined for social activities. This type of construction gives its own image to the province. Finally, Puerto Plata developed a modern architecture because of the American occupation (1916 and 1924), and continuing under Trujillo, based on cement block construction.

The city’s tourist centers include Playa Dorada and Costa Dorada, located to the east of San Felipe of Puerto Plata. There are a total of 100,000 hotel beds in the city; there are a number of “all-inclusive” resort hotels. Puerto Plata is served by Gregorio Luperón International Airport, situated around 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) to the east of the city, near the town La Union. In 2015, Carnival Cruise Line opened an $85 million cruise port called Amber Cove.

With its golden sands and a mountainous natural landscape combined with the turquoise of the water that many times dresses of a turquoise tone with the reflections of the sun in the day, and of the moon at night. These beaches bring pleasing memories by their landscapes, stones, waves, sand, uveros, almonds, yawls, rowboats, music, and dances. Many of them represent an epoch of daydream and traditions, like at La Poza del Castillo, Cofresí, Costámbar, Long Beach, Marapicá, Playa Dorada, Maimón, and Bergantín. The beaches are considered one of the main tourist attractions of the city.

Here you can find the complete Overview of all Theme Weeks.

Read more on Wikivoyage Puerto Plata and Wikipedia Puerto Plata. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.

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