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THE ITALIAN LEGACY IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
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The life of Bishop Geraldini, as well as the execution of this great work, served as an indisputable testimony
to the ties of 500 years of shared history that bind together the Dominican Republic and the Italian Republic.
Today, relations between the two countries are at their highest level, with important exchanges in the
fields of culture, education, and commerce.
Currently, bilateral trade amounts to US$400 million annually, and we have a tourist flow of around
120,000 Italians each year, as well as some 60,000 Italian nationals residing in our country, in addition to a
significant diaspora of Dominicans settled in Italy. For this reason, we take this opportunity to honor Bishop
Alessandro Geraldini, and in the interest of President Danilo Medina, and my own, to continue each day to
strengthen the bonds of friendship that unite us.
It is interesting to note that this second cultural year, which lasted from September 2019 till September
2020, also featured the participation of political institutions from both countries, as well as business organ-
izations, corporations, universities, museums, and research centers, all united by the desire to begin a new
chapter in the shared history of Italy and the Dominican Republic, and to build new opportunities and bridges
between the past and the future.
Various events were organized, beginning with an international conference honoring
the quincentennial of Geraldini’s arrival in Santo Domingo, which was held at the Pontifi-
cia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) on September 17. The event featured
the participation of Italian scholars
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who presented papers together with their Dominican
colleagues on the crucial years of shared history between the two countries, those mo-
ments when, because of Alessandro Geraldini, Italy and the Dominican Republic wrote
an important page of world history. That same day witnessed the inauguration of the first
chair of the Bishop Alessandro Geraldini Cultural Center for Italian Studies at the same
university. This represented a major milestone for the study and promotion of the Italian
Logo of the cultural
year in honor of the
500th anniversary of
the arrival in Santo
Domingo of the first
resident bishop,
Alessandro Geraldini.
© Italian Embassy in Santo
Domingo
Floral offering at the
tomb of the First
Resident Bishop
of the Americas,
Alessandro Geraldini,
to commemorate the
500th anniversary of
his arrival to Santo
Domingo. With the
presence of the cadets
of the Dominican
Navy, in attendance:
H.E. Andrea Canepari
Ambassador of Italy and
Dr. Roberta Canepari;
Chancellor Miguel
Vargas; First Lady
Cándida de Medina; the
Dominican Ambassador
to Italy, Alba María
Cabral; Monsignor
Freddy Antonio
de Jesús Bretón,
Martínez Metropolitan
Archbishop of Santiago
de los Caballeros
and President of
the Dominican
Episcopal Conference;
Monsignor Francisco
Ozoria, Metropolitan
Archbishop of Santo
Domingo; Dr. Alfredo
de la Cruz Baldera,
Chancellor of the
PUCMM; and key
Dominican government
economic and cultural
authorities.
© Courtesy of Listín Diario