La Vega, Dominican Republic

Concepción de la Vega (Real) was the first settlement in its province, having been founded in 1495 by Batholomew Columbus at the foot of a fortress built by his brother, Christopher Columbus in 1494, which was intended to guard the route to the interior gold deposits of the Cibao Valley. This Spanish settlement gradually grew around the fort.{{cite book|last1=Floyd|first1=Troy|title=The Columbus Dynasty in the Caribbean, 1492-1526|date=1973|publisher=University of New Mexico Press|location=Albuquerque|pages=30, 57–58, 66}} The name of the city honors and refers to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which in Spanish is commonly shortened to "Concepción"; and "la Vega" refers to the "plain" in which it is sited. Either the city itself or the antecedent fortress was founded on 8 December, this being the date of the Catholic feast of the Immaculate Conception. After 1508, when gold was found in quantity there, Concepción became the first gold boomtown in the island. It already had a cathedral, two convents, a hospital, and several administrative buildings. The first coin was minted in La Vega, and the first merchants settled there.{{Cite web |last=Diario |first=Listin |date=2009-11-13 |title=La Vega, su gran historia y cultura |url=https://listindiario.com/elnorte/2009/11/13/121299/la-vega-su-gran-historia-y-cultura.html |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=listindiario.com |language=ES}}

By 1510 it was one of the largest and most important European cities in the hemisphere. The city was destroyed and buried by an earthquake on December 2, 1562, and the survivors moved to the present site on the banks of the Camú River. The second foundation of the city corresponds to its current location and it is believed that it took place between the years 1562 and 1563.{{cite web |title=Pueblo Viejo La Historia como Ocurrio. |url=https://www.puebloviejo.dominikano.com/}} In the days of National Independence, the city of La Vega joined the cause of freedom with soldiers. On March 4, 1844, La Vega formalized its declaration in support of the War of Independence, and that same day it became the first town in the country to raise the national flag.{{Cite web |date=2019-02-27 |title=Día de la Bandera Dominicana |url=https://cpadp.gob.do/dia-de-la-bandera-dominicana/ |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=Comisión Presidencial de Apoyo al Desarrollo Provincial |language=es}}

File:La Vega Dominican Republic downtown streets.jpg

File:La Vega Dominican Republic downtown architecture.jpg

Commerce, agriculture, and industry gained new momentum in the late 1800s and early 1900s. An event that strengthened the area's economic development was the inauguration of the railway between the port of Sánchez and the city of La Vega. The transport by this means of fruits and merchandise led to new living conditions, with settlers arriving from Santo Domingo, Santiago, Moca, and other places. The La Vega region today yields cacao, coffee, tobacco, rice, fruits, and cattle. The first theater in the country was also built in La Vega. In 1915, the city received the name of a cultured city due to its art and culture. In the place of the ruins of the first city, there is an archaeological park and a museum, the Pueblo Viejo National Park. Over the years, a town called Pueblo Viejo emerged in honor of being the first place where the city existed.{{Cite web |title=Parque Nacional Histórico y Arqueológico de Pueblo Viejo, La Vega |url=https://www.nuestropatrimonio.gob.do/index.php/parque-nacional-historico-y-arqueologico-de-pueblo-viejo-la-vega |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=www.nuestropatrimonio.gob.do}}{{Cite web |title=Zonas Agricolas de la Republica Dominicana |url=http://www.geografiabasicarepublicadominicana.edu.do/zonas-agricolas.html |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=www.geografiabasicarepublicadominicana.edu.do}}

La Vega is bounded on the north by the Camú River. This river flows about 100 kilometers before emptying into Yuna River. South of the city is the Cordillera Central, the largest mountain system of the Dominican Republic. El Ponton Field, a local airport, bounds the city on the east. To La Vega's west are the Camú River again and Montellano.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}

La Vega has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen: Af)

{{Weather box

|width = auto

|location = La Vega, Dominican Republic (1961-1990)

|metric first = yes

|single line = yes

|temperature colour = pastel

|Jan record high C = 36.2

|Feb record high C = 36.2

|Mar record high C = 37.2

|Apr record high C = 37.3

|May record high C = 38.0

|Jun record high C = 38.0

|Jul record high C = 37.5

|Aug record high C = 38.5

|Sep record high C = 38.4

|Oct record high C = 38.6

|Nov record high C = 37.2

|Dec record high C = 35.0

|year record high C = 38.6

|Jan high C = 29.7

|Feb high C = 30.1

|Mar high C = 31.2

|Apr high C = 31.9

|May high C = 32.5

|Jun high C = 33.4

|Jul high C = 33.5

|Aug high C = 33.9

|Sep high C = 33.9

|Oct high C = 33.0

|Nov high C = 31.1

|Dec high C = 29.5

|year high C = 32.0

|Jan low C = 18.4

|Feb low C = 18.6

|Mar low C = 19.2

|Apr low C = 20.2

|May low C = 21.1

|Jun low C = 21.8

|Jul low C = 22.0

|Aug low C = 22.2

|Sep low C = 21.9

|Oct low C = 21.4

|Nov low C = 20.5

|Dec low C = 19.0

|year low C = 20.5

|Jan record low C = 11.0

|Feb record low C = 14.0

|Mar record low C = 12.5

|Apr record low C = 14.0

|May record low C = 17.0

|Jun record low C = 17.0

|Jul record low C = 16.0

|Aug record low C = 15.0

|Sep record low C = 16.0

|Oct record low C = 17.2

|Nov record low C = 16.2

|Dec record low C = 14.0

|year record low C = 11.0

|rain colour = green

|Jan rain mm = 84.7

|Feb rain mm = 76.6

|Mar rain mm = 87.0

|Apr rain mm = 148.1

|May rain mm = 178.1

|Jun rain mm = 84.6

|Jul rain mm = 102.1

|Aug rain mm = 119.0

|Sep rain mm = 117.1

|Oct rain mm = 145.1

|Nov rain mm = 139.1

|Dec rain mm = 120.1

|year rain mm = 1401.6

|unit rain days = 1.0 mm

|Jan rain days = 9.4

|Feb rain days = 7.1

|Mar rain days = 8.2

|Apr rain days = 9.9

|May rain days = 12.0

|Jun rain days = 8.1

|Jul rain days = 10.6

|Aug rain days = 10.2

|Sep rain days = 8.9

|Oct rain days = 10.7

|Nov rain days = 12.2

|Dec rain days = 11.4

|year rain days = 118.7

|Jan humidity = 73.6

|Feb humidity = 72.5

|Mar humidity = 69.6

|Apr humidity = 71.5

|May humidity = 74.3

|Jun humidity = 71.5

|Jul humidity = 71.3

|Aug humidity = 70.7

|Sep humidity = 70.6

|Oct humidity = 74.7

|Nov humidity = 77.6

|Dec humidity = 77.1

|year humidity = 72.9

|Jan sun = 186.7

|Feb sun = 185.8

|Mar sun = 213.9

|Apr sun = 201.5

|May sun = 206.5

|Jun sun = 228.7

|Jul sun = 246.2

|Aug sun = 250.7

|Sep sun = 210.7

|Oct sun = 207.2

|Nov sun = 174.5

|Dec sun = 156.3

|year sun = 2468.7

|source 1 = NOAA{{cite web

| url = ftp://ftp.atdd.noaa.gov/pub/GCOS/WMO-Normals/TABLES/REG_IV/DR/00000023.TXT

| title = La Vega Climate Normals 1961-1990

| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

| access-date = September 15, 2016}}

}}

Image:Centro ciudad.JPG

File:Dominican_Republic_Carnival_La_Vega.jpg

The local industries are based upon cacao, coffee, tobacco, rice, and cattle production. There is also a small but very famous brewery called Cervecería Vegana known for its pilsener-style beers, named Quisqueya and Soberana. There is a factory known for making the famous sausage Induveca.

The shrine of Our Lady of Mercy called Santo Cerro is located in the place where Virgin Mary appeared to Christopher Columbus during a battle.

There is an extension of the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña and there is the Universidad Católica Tecnológica del Cibao. Since 2005 the national and local governments are planning to build an extension of the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, but there are some conflicts and the project is behind schedule. This city also has one of the most expensive schools in the country, the famous Colegio Agustiniano, which is the only in the country.

Image:CHMDH.JPG

Annually, the famous Feria del Libro de República Dominicana (Dominican Republic Book Fair) takes place in the city of La Vega. In this fair most of the famous books and literary works from Dominicans writers such as Juan Bosch, Joaquín Balaguer, w:es:Federico García Godoy, among others, and international writers such as Gabriela Mistral, Rubén Darío, Gabriel García Márquez, among others,

are sold, and some theatrical works are shown to the public. The fair is celebrated each year in the month of September, lasting about one week, and brings to this city all the editors from all around the country, selling many kinds of books, theatrical works, etc.

Image:Bookfair01.JPG|Concepción de La Vega section

Image:Bookfair02.JPG|Hermanas Mirabal section

Image:Bookfair03.JPG|Monte Cristi section

Image:Bookfair04.JPG|Santiago section

Image:Bookfair05.JPG|Puerto Plata section

Image:Bookfair06.JPG|Mao section

Image:Bookfair07.JPG|San Francisco de Macorís section

Image:Bookfair08.JPG|Nagua section

Image:Bookfair09.JPG|Dajabón section

Image:Bookfair10.JPG|Samaná section

Image:Bookfair11.JPG|Santiago Rodriguez section

There are many bus companies which travel between La Vega other cities like: Santo Domingo, Santiago, Samana, Puerto Plata, and others. There is also El Ponton Field, which serves domestics flights.

Each year between the months of October and December a basketball tournament is held in this city, it is called in Spanish Torneo Superior de Baloncesto de La Vega in English Superior Basketball Tournament of La Vega, This tournament started in October 1994 (after a time of political and cultural crisis between the years 1978 and October 1994). One team is still active, the other ("El Country Team") disappearing.

File:Fernando teruel stadium.jpg

• El Parque Hostos is the most winning team with ten crowns (1995, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2018) and six times as runner up (1997,2003,2008, 2014, 2015, 2021).
• La Matica is the second most winning team with six crowns (1994, 1999, 2000, 2010, 2011, 2021), six times as first runner-up (1998, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) and qualified to the finals in 1996 but that year's finale was eventually canceled.
• DOSA is the third most winning team with five crowns (1998, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2017) and five times as first runner-up (2001, 2009, 2010, 2013,2019).
• Enriquillo is the fourth most winning team with three crowns (2003, 2016, 2019), and two-time as first runner-up (2012,2017) and qualified to the finals in 1996 but that year's finale was eventually canceled.
• La Villa is the fifth most winning team with two crowns (1997, 2015) and five times as runner up (1994, 1999, 2000, 2011, 2016, 2018).
• In the tournament number 19 (2012) was the first time in the history of this tournament that none of the most winning teams Club La Matica & Club Parque Hostos advanced to the final.

• Juan Bosch: famous writer, former president of the Dominican Republic, from February 27, 1963, to September 24, 1963, and for decades a top, national political leader
• Rhina Espaillat: bilingual Dominican-American poet
• Zoilo H. Garcia: aviator
• Luis Alberti: musician
• Juan Carlos Payano: boxer
• Victoriano Sosa: boxer
• Antonio Guzmán Fernández: former president of the Dominican Republic, 1978–1982
• Larimar Fiallo: Miss Dominican Republic 2004
• Cirilo J Guzmán: Lawyer
• Francisco Moncion: ballet dancer, charter member of the New York City Ballet and choreographer
• Carlos de la Mota: Televisa actor
• Vielka Valenzuela: Miss Dominican Republic 1994
• Carola Durán: Miss Dominican Republic 2012
• Ana Julia Quezada: murderer
• Jonathan Villar: professional baseball player for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball.

{{Reflist}}

Image:La_vega_01.JPG|The Catedral of La Vega

Image:La_vega_03.JPG|Plaza Duarte

Image:La_vega_04.JPG|A typical neighborhood

Image:Concepcion_de_la_vega_comercial.JPG|Commercial center in La Vega

Image:La_vega_05.JPG|Electrical center in La Vega

{{Provincial capitals of the Dominican Republic}}

{{Municipalities of the Dominican Republic}}

{{Authority control}}

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Category:Populated places in La Vega Province

Category:Municipalities of the Dominican Republic

Category:Populated places established in the 1490s