The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic

THE ITALIAN LEGACY IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

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old city was now rapidly expanding toward the sector beyond the defense walls, extending toward fields that

primarily sloped toward the east. This is due to the fact that the geological fault that divides the city’s bedrock

abruptly ascends at its northern side. This made it subject to unusual phenomena of different types, including

those arising within the country itself, as well as those from countries within the region. Thus, it assimilated

fundamental influences for the development of social, political, and economic life. Its architecture, an inherent

aspect of sociocultural development in an emerging nation, was the true reflection of the isolationism within

which the political events of recent years had forced it to exist.

The physical process of transformation in Santo Domingo was thus very slow, lacking a pace that would

enable it to establish an immediate goal for its horizon and future. From the moment that the independent

nation proclaimed itself to be a republic, in 1844, a long period elapsed in which virtually nothing with a per-

manent and transcendental character was built throughout the entire country or that would endure and be

recorded within the collective memory of the Dominican people. This only came about with the International

Competition for the design and construction of the Monumental Lighthouse dedicated to the memory of

Christopher Columbus, which took place in 1928.

This competition can be considered as the starting point

of a redemptive process of architectural activity that had been almost otherwise completely lacking.

It is perhaps in the fertile and consequently prosperous region of the Cibao where the most eloquent yet

modest examples can be found of a nascent architecture reflecting the economic progress of the emerging

business and social sectors. The regional capital of Santiago de los Caballeros and other provincial capital

cities, such as La Vega, San Francisco de Macorís, and Moca, with their civic centers (main squares, religious

View of the Presidential

Residence, with its

roof severely damaged,

probably caused by

Hurricane San Zenón in

1930.

D’Alessandro Tavárez

family. Courtesy of José

Chez Checo

View of the National

Palace’s construction.

D’Alessandro Tavárez

family. Courtesy of José

Chez Checo

Marble quarry, Villa

Ramfis, Samaná.

D’Alessandro Tavárez

family. Courtesy of José

Chez Checo