Puerto Plata, officially known as San Felipe de Puerto Plata, is the third-largest city in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

, and capital of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Puerto Plata. The city is a 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 An aerial tramway, sky tram, cable car, ropeway, aerial tram, telepherique, or seilbahn is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion. With this form of lift, the grip ...

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 fortification

Fortaleza San Felipe The Fortaleza San Felipe is a historic Spanish fortress located in the north of Dominican Republic in the province of Puerto Plata. It is also known as ''El Morro'' de San Felipe and was used to protect the City of Puerto Plata from pirates an ...

, which was built in the 16th century and served as a prison under Rafael Trujillo's dictatorship, lies close to the port of Puerta Plata. The Amber Museum is also a well-known attraction in this city.

La Isabela La Isabela in Puerto Plata Province, Dominican Republic was the first Spanish town in the Americas. The site is 42 km west of the city of Puerto Plata, adjacent to the village of El Castillo. The area now forms a National Historic Park. ...

, a settlement built by

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

, is located near Puerto Plata. In April 1563, the Spanish settlement became notorious when the English slave trader

Sir John Hawkins Sir John Hawkins (also spelled Hawkyns) (1532 – 12 November 1595) was a pioneering English naval commander, naval administrator and privateer. He pioneered, and was an early promoter of, English involvement in the Atlantic slave trade. Hawk ...

brought 400 people he had abducted from

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

. Hawkins traded his victims with the Spanish for pearls, hides, sugar and some gold. This was the start of British involvement in the trans-Atlantic History of slavery, slave trade.

Geography

The city sits on land that rises abruptly from the sea making it almost completely visible from the port. It is bordered on the north by the Atlantic Ocean and to the south and southwest by the hill Isabel de Torres. The small bay around which the city was built provides a natural harbor. Puerto Plata is the largest city on the northern seaboard. Its subdivisions include: El Cupey, Maimón, Los Mameyes, Sabana Grande, El Toro, Tubagua and Yásica. The mountain Isabel de Torres is situated some 5 km to the southwest of the city of San Felipe. Geographically it forms part of the Cordillera Septentrional, reaching a maximum height of 800 m above sea level. It is possible to drive to the top of the mountain by following the highway Don José Ginebra. The highway, upon leaving the city, continues west, passing the populated areas of San Marcos, Piedra Candela and El Cruce, arriving at a paved section that continues southeast and then leads directly to the top. The area surrounding Loma Isabel de Torres has been declared a National Monument with an area that covers approximately 20 km². At the summit there is a tropical botanical garden covering about , featuring 600 varieties of tropical plants.

Hydrography

The most significant rivers are Camú del Norte, San Marcos, Corozo, Muñoz, Maimón, El Violón, San Piñez, Río Seco, as well as the streams Fú, Blanco, Caballo, Culebra and San Cristóbal.

Climate

Puerto Plata has a

tropical climate Tropical climate is the first of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification identified with the letter A. Tropical climates are defined by a monthly average temperature of 18 °C (64.4 °F) or higher in the cool ...

, more specifically a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

, with hot, somewhat wet summers and warm, very wet winters (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Am''), due to its tropical location and the cold fronts that reach the region during the "winter" which typically brings the area humid, wetter weather.

Seal

In 1508, Serrano and Diego Nicuëza were sent to the Spanish court to beg the king to treat their cities as the cities in their home country. On December 6, 1508 the Spanish king granted the cities of Hispaniola their seal and their rights. For "Puerto de Plata", as it was called in those years, it was described as follows: A silver shield with a green mountain, on it was also a golden F and Y crowned and on the top of this, silver and blue. The initials are for the King and Queen of the Spanish Empire, the

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being bot ...

Fernando and Ysabel (now usually "Isabel").

History

300px, Puerto Plata post office Since the founding of La Isabela, the first village in the New World, on January 2, 1494, Puerto Plata has been a town of firsts in the Americas. Historians are not clear on the exact year of Puerto Plata's founding. Emilio Rodríguez Demorizi, Américo Lugo, Jose Bordonada, and Samuel Hazard give the year 1502 as recorded by Nicolás of Ovando. Dr. Llenas affirmed that it was 1503. Dr. Joaquín Marino Incháustegui, in his Dominican history records, cites 1504. Dr. Manuel Arturo Roca Batlle indicates that the city was founded in 1505. The historians Alonso Rodriguez Demorizi (brother of Emilio) and Jacinto Gimbernard assert that it was in the year 1496, and Padre Español said it was in 1506.

, in his first trip, called the mountain Monte de Plata, observing that since the top is frequently foggy it had a silver-like appearance, hence the name of the port. The city was designed by the brothers Christopher and Bartolomé Columbus, in 1496. The aforementioned

Nicolás de Ovando Frey Nicolás de Ovando y Cáceres (1460 – 29 May 1511 or 1518) was a Spanish soldier from a noble family and a Knight of the Order of Alcántara, a military order of Spain. He was Governor of the Indies ( Hispaniola) from 1502 until 1509, se ...

recorded a port existing in the northern coast of the island about 1502. In its first phase as a Spanish colony the town was considered the main commercial and maritime port of the island. Around 1555, Puerto Plata's importance as a port town was lost and it became one of the places of the Antilles frequented by pirates. In 1605 it was depopulated and destroyed by order of Felipe III, to hinder the advance of English piracy. A hundred years later the town was repopulated with farmers originating from the Canary Islands. The Atlantic From Fort San Felipe

the Battle of Puerto Plata Harbor The Battle of Puerto Plata Harbor took place in 1800 with France and Spain on one side, and the United States on the other, during the undeclared Quasi-War officially between the French First Republic and the United States. American forces lande ...

, US Marines landed on the island and attacked a French ship and

. After capturing the French privateer ''Sandwich'' and spiking the guns at the fort, US forces retired victorious. This was during the

Quasi-War The Quasi-War (french: Quasi-guerre) was an undeclared naval war fought from 1798 to 1800 between the United States and the French First Republic, primarily in the Caribbean and off the East Coast of the United States. The ability of Congress ...

, an undeclared conflict between France and the United States from 1798 to 1800. 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. The city grew under the influence of European immigrants, who left a cultural and social footprint that remains unique among other cities on the island. In 1863, during the Dominican Restoration War, the city was razed completely. 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. In 1996,

Birgenair Flight 301 Birgenair Flight 301 was a flight chartered by Turkish-managed Birgenair partner Alas Nacionales from Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic to Frankfurt, Germany, via Gander, Canada, and Berlin, Germany. On February 6, 1996, the 757-200 ope ...

crashed near Puerto Plata, killing all 189 people on board.

Economy

The Municipality of San Felipe de Puerto Plata is prominent in agrobusiness 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 ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...

s as well as general bulk freighters. These 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. Naked Taino Bay, the new terminal is scheduled to open in late 2020.

Culture

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 and the culture represented in the carnival that reflects cultural identity. Each year the organizers of the carnival choose the King Momo, who represents the person of the city that has fought for maintaining its traditions.

Architecture

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, English immigration and 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 to 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.

Downtown Puerto Plata

File:Downtown Puerto Plata Dominican Republic Architecture.jpg, File:Puerto Plata Dominican Republic Streets View.jpg File:Downtown Puerto Plata Dominican Republic Cafe.jpg File:Puerto Plata Dominican Republic Town Architecture.jpg File:Puerto Plata Dominican Republic Streets View 2.jpg

Education

Some of the illustrious educators who left a mark in the Puerto Plata education system include Antera Mota, Emilio Prud'Homme, Ana Isabel Jiménez, Mercedes Mota, José Dubeau, Doña Isabel Díaz-Alejo y Reyes, Doña Elvia Campillo, Isabel Meyreles, María Concepción Gómez Matos, among others. Currently, the municipality of San Felipe of Puerto Plata counts on 182 educational centers, of which the 67% correspond to the public sector and 39% to the private sector. This municipality has a total of 29,279 students, of whom 1,567 are at the initial level, 19,395 at the basic level, 6,642 at the medium level, 1,505 students to the subsystem of adults, 84 students of special education and 86 of the labor school. Besides the universities, four operations offer different careers of technical and upper degree. These universities are: *

Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra The Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra ''(Mother and Teacher Pontifical Catholic University)'', named after Pope John XXIII's encyclical ''Mater et magistra'', which means ''Mother and Teacher'', (PUCMM for its Spanish acronym), i ...

( PUCMM) * Universidad Organización y Método * Universidad Tecnológica de Santiago (UTESA) * Centro Universitario Regional del Atlántico de la Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (CURA-UASD)

Sports

Since the 1950s, the main sports institution of the municipality of San Felipe has been the League of the Atlantic one, which was founded on August 16, 1958, prompted by Fabio Rafael González. This institution celebrates activities during all the year, mainly baseball, and years later added basketball, with the time various clubs were incorporated; the Gustavo Behall, the Hugo Kunhard, and Juan Luis Plá, among others. Since the 1970, the main activities have been the school events that are celebrated during all the year, in its respective dates in which competes in the different disciplines. At present, in Golden Beach, Brugal & Company celebrates periodically the Club Golf Puerto Plata tournament, with the participation of the most noticeable athletes of this discipline, so much at the local level, as national and international.

Tourism

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, and include a number of "all-inclusive" resort hotels. Puerto Plata is served by

Gregorio Luperón International Airport Gregorio Luperón International Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto Internacional Gregorio Luperón) , also known as Puerto Plata Airport, is located in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. It is the Dominican Republic's fourth busiest airport by pa ...

, situated around to the east of the city, near the town La Union. In 2015,

Carnival Cruise Line Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue color scheme. This ...

opened an $85 million cruise port called Amber Cove.

Fort

The fort is the main colonial monument of the city of Puerto Plata, since around it the city developed most of its history. In 1540, Álvaro Caballero went to the Court to request that a fortress be constructed in Puerto Plata. In 1549 the Archbishop and governing Fuenmayor, he was entrusted with its construction, but it was still not done even in 1560, when the Audiencia Real ordered it commence under the charge of the French-born judge Juan Echagoín to initiate its work. This work was finished in the year 1577. The purpose was to protect the city against the incursions of bandits, of the corsairs and French and English pirates that continuously terrified inhabitants of Puerto Plata. Its name is in honor of FelipeII, in whose reign its construction was finished. In 1980 it was declared a national monument.

Ocean World

Ocean World is an adventure park located amidst the reefs of the Beach of Cofresí, boasting the largest man-made dolphin habitat in the world. The park is a main tourist attraction, and is the largest and most complete park of its kind in the Caribbean. The investment on this project is valued at more than 45 million dollars. It includes a yacht marina, the permanent residence of some 19 dolphins, beaches and forests, as well as fishbowls, picturesque and exotic birds, a casino, and used to have Malayan tigers. Ocean World is located within a tourist complex on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. The investor and president of Ocean World,

L. A. Meister Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...

, showed great interest in the tourist potential of Puerto Plata, in its first incursions in this city, as he was directed and oriented by

Juan Carlos Moral ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

, original owner of the lands of Cofresí.

Museums

Museo del Ámbar: The business Costa, Inc. A cultural company of family administration, directed by Aldo Costa, founded the Museo del Ámbar Dominicano in the 1982 in the Villa Bentz, (more elegant Hotel of Puerto Plata of the year 1918, built by the Spanish architect Marín Gallart and Cantú). This museum is considered the first Museum of Amber of the Dominican Republic and at the same time, a great historic monument of the city. La Zona Colonial (Casas Victorianas): From 1857, it was initiated in Puerto Plata. The Victorian style originating from England, call thus, in honor of the Queen Victoria, manager of that epoch. This it extended to almost everyone and was considered it more modern. The fundamental characteristics were the elaboration of the wood in artistic form, for the construction of dwellings. From that moment, Puerto Plata defined clearly their architectural style, evolving to what we have nowadays as our patrimony. The rise and development of that new modality in the art of construction, was what gave start, to the buildings of the Victorian houses of the decade from the 70 of the 19th century. Creating a unique style in the city, which him is known today as Victorian architecture of Puerto Plata.

El Faro

The

cast-iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

lighthouse was built in 1879, under the interim regime of

Gregorio Luperón Gregorio Luperón (September 8, 1839 – May 21, 1897) was a Dominican president, military general, businessman, liberal politician, freemason, and Statesman who was one of the leaders in the Restoration of the Dominican Republic after the Span ...

. It consists of a tower elevated on a masonry base, on

Doric columns The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

, and rising to above sea level. Due to its position on the coast the cast iron suffered from

corrosion Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engi ...

and for its poor condition it was included in the

2000 World Monuments Watch The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York-based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) and American Express to call upon every government in the world, preservation organizations, and other groups ...

by the

World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and trainin ...

. American Express provided funds for a restoration project, which was completed in 2004.Periódico Hoy, "Puerto Plata, la novia del Atlántico," December 22, 2004.
/ref> After the restoration, the Dominican Republic's ''Dirección Nacional de Patrimonio Monumental'' announced that the historic district around the lighthouse would also be revitalized.

Teleférico

The Teleférico cable car was inaugurated in 1975, with construction of Italian origin. It can carry 17 people and takes eight minutes to climb and descend the mountain. It is moved by an electric hydraulic system, conducted by a central operator, situated in the base station. This small train has protective glass walls, and offers the visitor a panoramic view of the city descending from the hill (which at its top is above sea level). Visitors can see the local landscape, including a garden of 215 features and the flora of the country, gift shops and a restaurant with Dominican food. It is managed by a patronage, which maintains it under the principles of conservation.

Beaches

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 all an epoch of daydream and traditions, like they are La Poza del Castillo, Cofresí, Costámbar, Long Beach, Marapicá, Playa Dorada, Maimón, Bergantín, among others. The beaches are considered one of the main tourist attractions of the city.

Mountain Pico Isabel de Torres

On the -high mountain Pico Isabel de Torres, the highest point of Puerto Plata, there is a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

and a replica of Christ the Redeemer, the famous statue in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

; though the statue is of a smaller size, the mountain itself is taller than that of Rio. The roads leading up the mountain are subject to large amounts of rain and are occasionally impassable.

Transportation

Puerto Plata is served by

which has service by 13 passenger and 3 cargo airlines.

Notable residents

* Ulises Heureaux y Antonio Imbert former president of the Dominican Republic *

Al Horford Alfred Joel Horford Reynoso (born June 3, 1986) is a Dominican professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Big Al", Horford is a five-time NBA All-Star and is the highest paid L ...

current NBA player * Chris Duarte current NBA player * Vojislav Stanimirović Journalist owns a villa overlooking the Puerto Plata Bay since 1990's . * Tito Horford former NBA player and father of Al Horford *

Arthur Lithgow Arthur Washington Lithgow III (September 9, 1915 – March 24, 2004) was an American actor and director. He helped pioneer the regional theater movement in the United States and founded two Shakespeare festivals. Early life Lithgow was born in ...

, American-Dominican actor and director; born in Puerto Plata in 1915 *

former president of the Dominican Republic * Carlos Martínez, current MLB player * Carlos Felipe Morales former president of the Dominican Republic * Emilio Prud'Homme writer of the "

National Anthem of the Dominican Republic The national anthem of the Dominican Republic ( es, Himno nacional de República Dominicana), also known by its incipit Valiant Quisqueyans ( es, Quisqueyanos valientes), was composed by José Rufino Reyes y Siancas (1835–1905), and its lyrics ...

" * Segundo Gonzáles Tamayo former vice-president of the Dominican Republic * Oscar Taveras MLB player, 2014 (d. 2014)

References

https://dominicantoday.com/dr/tourism/2019/12/14/new-cruise-terminal-in-puerto-plata-will-be-operational-in-2020/

External links

Puerto Plata Carnival

Live and timelapse webcam images from Puerto Plata province

Puerto Plata DR Travel Guide

Puerto Plata City Guide

{{Coord, 19, 48, N, 70, 41, W, region:DO_type:city, display=title Municipalities of the Dominican Republic Populated places established in 1502 Populated places in Puerto Plata Province 1502 establishments in the Spanish Empire