La Vega

La Vega  

   La Vega is a province of the Dominican Republic  with a surface area of 2,287 square kilometers, is located almost in the center of the Dominican Republic. Currently the Vega is divided into four municipalities which are: conception of the Vega which is the capital or bedside provincial, the municipality of Constanza, the municipality of Jarabacoa and the municipality of Jima. The Vega is located near of eight provinces, which are: Azua, San Jose de Ocoa, Monsenor Nouel, Sanchez Ramirez, Duarte, the Mirabal Sisters, Espaillat, Santiago and San Juan. La Vega is Located almost in the center of the country, in the eastern part of the Cibao region or the northern region of the Dominican Republic.

La Vega is located to 120 kilometers to the northwest of the city of Santo Domingo. It is located between the Cordillera Central and Northern to 90 meters above sea level. It is bordered to the north by the provinces of Santiago, Espaillat, Salcedo and Duarte, to the south with Azua and San Jose de Ocoa, to the east with Sanchez Ramirez and Monsenor Nouel and to the west with San Juan and Azua. The province of La Vega is a mountainous province, except at its northern end where it forms part of the valley of La Vega Real. The Vega is an encyclopedia of history because this city has been founded several times, and according to the historian vegan Manuel Ubaldo Gomez the first foundation of the city of La Vega was made by Christopher Columbus on 8 December 1494.

The City of La Vega was shaken by a seismic movement in 1562, seismic that destroyed a large part of the city that had built the Spaniards. Its ruins are known today as ruins of La Vega Vieja.  Christopher Columbus was so amazed by the beauty of the place that gave him by name La Vega Real. The economic development of the Vega at the beginning began with the casting of gold and the cultivation and processing of sugar cane. This was in the first foundation of the Vega, say the historians that the Vega became the most important city of the area in those times, so much so that as early as the beginning of the XVI century, The province of La Vega used to have a bishop in the cathedral, in addition to two convents, a fortress, a hospital, a house of casting coins and administrative offices.

In the province of La Vega was coined the first currency of america and settled early traders of the colonial era. In the year 1508 Spain gave the category of city and in 1512 was erected as the headquarters of the first bishopric established on the island. Here in the Vega lived the Fray Bartolome De Las Casas and Fray Pedro de Cordoba, two brothers who were defenders of indigenous peoples. According to history, in one of the battles between Spaniards and indigenous peoples, in this place, the Virgin Mary appeared to the Mercedes, in the middle of the two warring parties, who made the miracle of return the arrows that indigenous people launched to the Spaniards, thus favoring the victory of the spaniards.

The second foundation of the city of La Vega

 In the year 1562 the city was destroyed by another earthquake, being transferred to banks of the Camú River. The exact date of the founding of the new conception of the Vega is ignored; the historians refer to after the earthquake, the population, they founded the new city as well as made the ancient Egyptian civilization, since founded the new city on the banks of the Camú River, where there was a chapel dedicated to San Sebastian. With regard to the design and development of the new city, the inhabitants continued with the same habits and patterns of European design, or rather the Spanish designs, with a central square called Plaza de Armas. South of the square was built the church and the Cemetery, West they built the fortress and the plaza of Government, around the square were built the main houses of the city and in the east side they built the houses of the poorest in the Community which were small huts, whose construction was made of wood of pine and palm tables with roofs of yagua.

The third foundation of the city of La Vega

In 1805, a failed attempt of domination on the part of the inhabitants of the western part of the island, makes in its process of withdrawal, the troops of General Jean Jacques Dessalines, burned the city of La Vega, along with other cities of the Cibao region.  According to the writer Guido Despradel in his book "History of La Vega", The City of La Vega was founded once again on 13 March 1813, when the island after having spent some years under the power of France, Once more, this city returned to be under the power of the Spanish crown, returning this way the progress and development that characterized the city of La Vega. The streets where is located the historical center of La Vega, are the same streets that they built in its second foundation in the year 1562. During the time of the Haitian occupation, the progress of the city of La Vega was very slow and limited in obtaining material benefits. 

In the year 1842 the city was destroyed once again by another earthquake that destroyed the main constructions that had the city of La Vega, such as the Palace of Government and the Church. During the time of the struggle for freedom and independence or national sovereignty, the city of La Vega joined this cause, serving as a link the parish priest Presbyter José Eugenio Espinosa and Azcona.  On 4 March 1844 The Vega formalized its pronouncement in favor of independence, and that same day became the first town of the country that hoisted the Dominican flag, concocted by the Villas young ladies.

Economic of La Vega

The economic activities such as agriculture, trade and industry, acquired a new impetus with the immigrations from Santo Domingo, Santiago, Moca, and other parts of the country. After achieving independence, in the same period was founded the Masonic Lodge Concordia. The Masonic Lodge was a group of young vegans, these young people were young people with progressive ideas that contributed significantly to exalt the culture of La Vega. Something that greatly strengthened the economic development of the area was the opening of the railroad between the port of Las Cañitas or Sanchez and the city of La Vega, product of the effort of the Praiseworthy Gregorio Rivas. This transport was used mainly for transporting fruit and merchandise. This transport has produced in these times, new and better conditions of life for all the society of La Vega. In 1915 the city of La Vega receives the name of city cultured, for his dedication to the art and culture.

In the place of the ruins of the first city, there is an archeological park and a small museum. The main economic activity of the province is agriculture, being thus the main engines of its economy Constanza which is a producer of potatoes, fruit trees, horticultural and flowers, also the municipality of Jarabacoa which is a producer of horticulture, coffee, flowers and beans and in the lower basin of the Camú River is cultivated vegetables and rice. There is also some production bananas, cacao and fruit. Another production of great importance is the poultry production, pig and cattle. The big factories are mainly concentrated in the city of La Vega, with other agribusiness scattered throughout the province, being the rice mills one of the most important in the country.

The Vega has a very diverse climate in their different places and due to these weather conditions in the province it is possible to produce a wide variety of crops. The vegetable and fruit species of fresh climate and cold as: cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, tayota, garlic, apple, strawberry, among others are produced in Jarabacoa and, mainly, in Constanza. The production of flowers is also important in this mountainous region. Equally important is the production of beans, and the production of coffee. In the lower part, the largest crop extension and importance are the rice, plantains, yucca and cocoa. 

In the areas surrounding the Camú River, we produce a large amount of Chinese vegetables, mainly for export. In the low areas, where there is no system of irrigated land, livestock production is very important. These cattle are for purposes of producing meat and milk. La Vega is a true national treasure, therefore under their soils we can find various minerals such as copper, gold, gray marble and ferronickel, among others, being exploited only the gray marble and ferronickel. In Jarabacoa are located gray marble deposits in several tones. While the ferronickel is located specifically in Loma Peguera and near the Loma Guaiguí.

Mountain towns

In spite of the fact that the vega is situated in a valley, the Vega also account with mountainous area which is formed by the towns of Constance, Jarabacoa and part of the municipality header of the Vega. In this zone are born the main rivers of the country and of the province. Its main cities are Constanza and Jarabacoa. Constanza has a temperate climate humid, according to the classification of Köppen, characterized by the average temperature. This temperature is lower than 18°C during all the year, except in the summer when the monthly average reaches 19 and 20°C and average annual rainfall is 1 000 to 1 500 mm.

 With regard to the forests, trees that predominate in this region are the very humid low montane, highlighting the ebony Green Magnolia pallescens and Very humid Montane Forests, with its pine forests. In this region, toward the west, is located the Massif Central, this is the section of the Cordillera Central where are the higher elevations of the country and of the islands of the Antilles. Toward the South, lies the massif of Valle Nuevo, where is the highest elevation of the province: the mountain of Alto Bandera, with 2,872 meters above sea level.

In addition, there are 3 valleys between mountains of great importance for the production of flowers, vegetables and fruits: Jarabacoa, Constanza and Tireo. The Valley of Constanza is the highest in the country and is located approximately 1,564 above sea levels.  In the city of Constance, with an altitude of 1,564 meters, the annual average temperature is 18º C, with a maximum average of 20.8°C and a minimum average of 3.2°C. The average annual rainfall of Constanza is 1, 037, 5.

The Valley of Jarabacoa, with 23 square kilometers, form a triangle framed, principally by the rivers Yaque Del Norte and Jimenoa. It is located at the foot of the Massif Central to some 530 meters above the sea level and 30 kilometers from La Vega.   In the city of Jarabacoa, located at an altitude of 530 meters above sea level, the average annual temperature is 22.0°C, with a maximum average of 25.8 and a minimum average of 10.3. The average annual rainfall is 1 466.1

Lower Region

The lower part of the Vega is formed by the municipality of Jima and part of the municipality header of the Vega, is characterized by being almost completely flat with very few low hills. Its climate, according to the classification of Koppen is  of tropical wet forest, it is like that because the average temperature is 18°C during all the year, with negligible differences between the coldest month and the hottest; the average annual rainfall is greater than 2 000 mm. The vegetation in this area is subtropical. The main urban center of this low area and also of the province is the city of the concepcion de La Vega or simply the Vega, with a height of 100 meters above sea level. The average annual temperature is 26.3°C, with a maximum average of 31.1 and a minimum average of 19.5. The average annual rainfall is 1457.4 mm.

Hydrography of the province of La Vega

The province of La Vega boasts a rich hydrographic system composed by rivers, streams and glens. The province of La Vega has a very good water level; this allows a suitable irrigation of crops, which facilitates the production of a large number of agricultural products.

The main rivers in the province are:

Yaque Del Norte, whose high basin is located in the municipality of Jarabacoa. Camú River, tributary of the Yuna River and that is the main river in the province. Together with its tributaries, determines much of the physiognomy of the province. Jimenoa, tributary of the Yaque Del Norte to the northeast of the Dominican Republic. 

In addition to these rivers, there are others such as the River Licey, which is the only one of the province that is born in the Cordillera Septentrional in the Santiago province, north of Tamboril and which is a tributary of the Camú; the River Verde, tributary of the Licey; the River Tireo, that was born in the Valley of the Tireo and is a tributary of the Yuna; the Rio Grande River, it born in Valle Nuevo (Constanza) and then turning toward the south is called River of the East and is a tributary of the Yaque del Sur; the River Baiguate, tributary of the Jimenoa; the River Jima, a tributary of the Camú; among other more.

La Vega Carnival 

 The La Vega carnival is an annual festivity full of colors and costumes of Limping Devils. The Limping Devils have different names according to the place. That is why in different communities and cities, people known the Limping Devils with different names, as is the case of the community of Cabral, in Cabral, the people  known the Limping Devils with the name of Cachúas, in Montecristi they known  as bulls and in Cotuí they known as Los Papeluses.

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