Puerto Plata
November 23, 2024
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I took a day tour to the city of Puerto Plata, located on the north coast of the Dominican Republic on the Atlantic Ocean. The city had a population of just over 162,000 in 2022.
Christopher Columbus landed in the Puerto Plata area in the 1490s, and created the first European settlement in the Americas, naming it La Isabela.
Nicolás de Ovando and Spanish colonists founded a small settlement here in 1502.
In 1605, it was depopulated and destroyed by order of Philip III of Spain to counter raids by English privateers and pirates. A hundred years later, the city was repopulated with
farmers from the Canary Islands. Years later, from 1822 to 1844, the city was actually under Haitian control. From 1844 on began the period of the republic, in which the city began
to recover its maritime and commercial boom. Beginning in 1865, the current Puerto Plata began to be built, which included some of the Victorian style architecture seen in several
central buildings.
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Above: Murals on apartment building walls in Puerto Plata, including Dominican basketball player Al Horford, who plays for the Boston Celtics.
1 and 2 show buildings on the drive to Puerto Plata.
3 to 5 show apartment buildings with various murals.
6 to 8 are buildings and sites within the city.
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