La Romana, Dominican Republic- Caribbean
History and General Information
La Romana is a new-founded city of Republica Dominicana, being actually the youngest city from the Republic. The city is situated on the southeast coast of the Dominican Republic and initially was no more than a town where people raised cattle. What initiated the urban development of La Romana, was the establishment of a big private sugar refinery in the city, by the Puerto Rico Sugar Company at the beginning of the 20th Century, called the Central Romana. This brought people from Puerto Rico and the neighboring islands who populated the city and created their own culture and society.
Climate
As the average annual temperature is 77 Farenheit (25 degrees Celsius), La Romana provides a tropical paradise. There are a few variations from the hot temperature, which consist in rainfall amounts – the rain varies with the sunny weather, and there is a rainy season from May to November in which you must expect to get wet almost every day. If you can't stand the heat, visiting the mountains from the center of the island provides you the share of cold you need.
Between the month of June and November, cyclones endanger La Romana, so it is advised that the tourist informs himself about precaution measures taken by the local government.
Activities
La Romana, as mentioned above, is known for golfing activities due to Casa de Campo resort, which appeals both to pros and amateurs. From the three 18 hole championship golf courses, there is one which is part of a private country club. Not only tourists play golf on a professional and special arranges spaces, but they can also enjoy an impressive sight.
But golf isn't the only sport available in La Romana. You can also practice water sports if you don't want to miss the sea, or land sports such as: basketball, beach volleyball, soccer, archery and merengue dance.
If none of the sports mentioned above doesn't appeal to you and you rather watch than practice them, La Romana has a professional baseball league which is active from October to January – baseball being the most popular sport in the country. The Major League Baseball from US received many great players.
Attractions
People started to appreciate La Romana as a touristic destination after Casa de Campo resort was opened which is very known by golf lovers, being part of the top golfing destinations. Casa de Campo is located only at about 2 km east of La Romana.
Altos de Chavón is the most significant attraction of La Romana. Situated not far from Casa de Campo (just east of the resort), Altos de Chavón resembles a medieval village from Spain, Italy or southern France. The art center origins set back to 1976, when Charles G. Bluhdorn chose the plateau east of Santo Domingo for a big project. The artistic community Altos de Chavón was built-up by many Dominican stonecutters, woodworkers, and ironsmiths above the canyon of the Río Chavón and the Caribbean Sea.
Altos de Chavon impresses the tourists with its architecture which reminds of other eras. The buildings host galleries, craft workshops, artists` studios galleries, stores and restaurants. The plazas have beautiful mosaics made of black river pebbles, red sandstone, and sun-bleached coral. What attracts in the main plaza is the Church of St. Stanislaus, mainly because of the beautiful view.
The resort owns a museum of archaeology, called the Archaeological Museum of Taino artifacts. The objects of art possessed by the museum belong to the amateur archaeologist and collector of objects from the first settlers of the island, Taino tribes. A lot of art objects exposed seem contemporary, resembling in design with the work of Brancusi. The entrance to the museum is free.
Altos de Chavon houses many galleries which provide to art lovers a great mix of exhibits, which change almost every month. Dominican - even international - artists exhibit their work here. You can even buy works of art from the galleries consignment space.
Something specific to Altos de Chavon are the craft workshops. In those workshops, artists make products, which distinguish the islands` folklore. From La Tienda, which is the foundation village store, you can buy the products of craftsmen, which include some of the most sophisticated note cards, posters and printed T-shirts in the Carribean.
The amphitheater Altos de Chavon is situated in the center of the performing-arts complex which hosts the most famous festival, the Heineken Jazz festival. It is an open-air amphitheater and it has 5.000 seats, in which people occupying them witnessed many symphonies, theater performances, festivals, and concerts of famous artists like late Frank Sinatra, Carlos Santana and others.
