Puerto Plata.- The province of Puerto Plata is located north of the island of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. To the north bordering the Atlantic Ocean she owes her nickname to the “The Bride of the Atlantic” is practically located south of Florida. I will now present you with the political and physical maps of the Dominican Republic.
Her History
Puerto Plata is located on the north coast of the island of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, a place chosen by Christopher Columbus. Columbus discovers San Felipe de Puerto Plata on his first voyage on January 12, 1493 and called on the mountain (now Loma Isabel Torres) Monte de Plata at its peak because there are clouds that make it appear as silver. It takes its name the city of Puerto Plata. Upon reaching Colon to the island of Santo Domingo in 1492 he built the first Puerto de la Navidad. When this was destroyed he builds the first city in the Americas and called it La Isabela on January 2, 1492.
The city of Puerto Plata was founded in 1502 by Nicolas de Ovando in the place chosen by Columbus. In 1508 he was awarded the coat of arms with a silver mountain, whose tips are higher engravings An F and V, and at the foot of the mountain some waves white and blue. The Fortress of San Felipe is the only witness to the city of the sixteenth century.
This Fortress built from 1564 to 1577. The monastery of San Pedro Martin which was standing at the time of the second foundation falls into deterioration the moment that the Haitian took over the island. The church of San Felipe Apostle in 1934 was reinforced with concrete and erected at the same site of the original and subsequent were successively brick, masonry and wood composed of galvanized iron. On October 4, 1863, following the War of Restoration against the Annexation with Spain, the city was burned, built back in 1865. In this third reconstruction this city flourishes again for its continued position with the port, which connects the entire region of Cibao with the outside world. This communication helps with the opening of railways: Sanchez-La Vega in 1887; Santiago-Puerto Plata and Santiago in 1890-Moca in 1909 (It should be borne in mind that there were no roads in the interior and commerce had to be done in steams along the coast). At the moment came to populate the city traders in different parts of the world mainly from Germany, England, Spain and the Antilles.
In 1974 it was chosen by her coastal characteristics as tourist pole by means of presidential decree. Since part of the program of conditioning Puerto Plata with tourism purposes improved the infrastructure of the historical center as the aqueduct, the levee was constructed, they fixed streets up and gutters, the port of San Felipe was restored, and the funicular was constructed to go up to the hill Isabel de Torres. The Victorian summer-house of the central park was reconstructed and recently on initiative of the government the station of the train was reconstructed, the Faith in the Future was restored and the Bridge of the Guinea.
The cable car
Climb the cable car to the top of Mount Isabel Torres of almost 1000 meters high. There, at the foot of a giant statue of Christ the Redeemer (which reminds us of the Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro) there is a panoramic view and overpowering the city and its environs. The fans purchases should visit the Craft Center, located at the base of the monument, which can be found Dominican crafts.
The Bank of the Silver
The Bank of the Silver is to approximately 140 kilometers to the north of the province of Puerto Plata and has an average depth of 20 meters, though she can reach depths of up to 1,800 meters. In the northwest of Area there exists a reef that protects the bank near which the Hunchbacked Whales principally settle themselves. For turning out to be dangerous for the navigation, this zone is not very frequented by boats.
In these calm waters the whales find an environment adapted to reproduce and to look after of her, babies during the winter season. After a short season in the bank, the whales return with her babies to the cold waters of the North Atlantic. It thinks that during November until April between 2,000 and 3,000 Hunchbacked Whales visit the Bank of the Silver, which constitutes 80 % of the total population of these whales in the North Atlantic.
The Bank of the Silver is a critical zone for this species which is why it must be protected, to guarantee the survival of this threatened marine mammal. The Hunchbacked Whale is second largest rare of the big whales and she loves living near waters which are not very deep and close to the islands, which is why the populations have been exploited irrationally.
Besides the whales, we can also find on the bank a great diversity of marine fish as well as extensive coral formations. Also abound several species of sea turtles, which the bank offers an ecosystem relatively safe from persecution of men.