My hometown, San Juan de la Maguana

San Juan de la Maguana celebrates the feast of San Juan Bautista every June 24th with diverse activities, such as parades on horseback, caravans, and games, in honor of the patron saint of horses, Saint John the Baptist.  Other traditional events like the barley stick, drums, and stick parties are also part of the celebrations. This town is known for preserving magical religious beliefs, and its carnival takes place mainly in March. Moreover, the first rain in May is regarded as a "magical" event that brings benefits to the community..

The city has many important landmarks that have a lot of significance (cultural, historical and natural). 1. Arc de Triomphe: Is an arch located in the entrance of the city that welcomes visitors. 2. Ceremonial square "Corral de los indios": And historical and cultural place where tainos used to meet and make religious and social meetings. Located in San Juan - Juan de Herrera Road. 3. Caonabo Square: A cultural plaza where we can find a big statue of the taino leader Caonabo on a relief map of the island. This is located across the obelisk of San Juan (which indicates the coordinates). 4. Monument to the heroes of the Battle of Santomé: A plaza that commemorate Santome battle heroes, where we reaffirm our independence from Haiti. 5. Marian Sanchez Castle (Disney like castle): A big building on the northside of San Juan that was build by Marian Sanchez (not finished yet). 6. Orlando Martinez Cultural Plaza: A place and a museum dedicated to the journalist Orlando Martinez How...

San Juan is one of the oldest city of the country. It occupy the same valley as the Maguana cacicazgo and the historical “Corral de los indios”. Its leader was Caonabo, that means “Big lord of the land”.   Dibujo de Caonabo It was founded in the beginning of the 16th century by the Admiral Diego Velázquez under the order of the Governor Nicolás de Ovando. The first family in the city was the Ramírez family, being considered Wenceslao Ramírez and the Ramírez Roa brothers the patriarchs of the city. Diego Velázquez Nicolás de Ovando From its beginning, San Juan was a rising village with its rich flora and very good climate. Agriculture has been the means of production for excellence. Fruits, meals, and sugar cane are examples of things produced here.  San Juan grain production La Higuera was the site of the farms and farmhouses of the "comendador" Don Francisco de Valenzuela and the birthplace of the Indian Guarocuya, also known as Enriquillo, who led a rebellion against the Sp...

San Juan de la Maguana is the head municipality and capital city of San Juan province in the South of Dominican Republic. It was one of the first cities founded on the island in 1503. Its name came from San Juan Bautista and Maguana valley, a taíno name. This city is very important because it is one of the most populated in the country with more than 170,000 inhabitants (2010 census). Even though San Juan is one of the biggest grain producers of the country achieving the name of “The ‘grainer’ of the South”, which is its basic economic income. San Juan has noticed an increase in its population and its economy is growing every year. In the cultural and academic side, San Juan has a very rich culture and history and produce the personnel that the region needs with three High Education institutions and technical institutes that provide the formation and education young and adult people need to grow personally.