Monuments to visit North Coast

It is impossible to miss this castle, which took more than 20 years to build (and is not yet finished), with its architecture at the crossroads of the Middle Ages and the fantasy of its author. Mundo King houses about 800 pieces of art: monumental sculptures of granite and wood rather disturbing, paintings mixing religious elements with dinosaurs and other apocalyptic scenes, all on several floors. Note: the crypt, absolutely not illuminated... shivers guaranteed! An intense experience that will not leave you indifferent.

The handicraft market, the Mercado Nuevo, is housed in a concrete structure with a resolutely modern and aggressive architecture. Stands offer all local production in the fields of sculpture, painting, basket, textiles and consumables, cigars, rum… Apart from this, the traditional market is held with its coloured stalls and amply supplied in fruit and vegetables, sheltered under umbrellas or large sheets of plastic. We weigh the products on scales of fortune, the small restaurants make room.

Designed in France and built here in 1895, this old colonial wooden house was once the residence of the Rodríguez Jiménez family. The Dominican State later acquired it to convert it into the headquarters of the Montecristi Courthouse, an office that the Villa fulfilled until 1990. Abandoned for many years, it has undergone extensive restoration. The final project is to turn it into a Casa de Cultura, housing a school of Fine Arts.

The clock, the pride of the city, which stands in the middle of the central park of San Fernando, in front of the church, was bought from France in 1895, thanks to the contributions of the local citizens. Its structure is reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower, which is understandable since the clock was designed by Gustave Eiffel himself and built by the famous clockmaker Paul Garnier. The latter, a genius craftsman, was a member of the Society of Civil Engineers in the 19th century. The Montecristi clock still works with its original mechanism.

The lighthouse is emblematic of the area. This imposing monument was made from cast iron by Robert Hills and Sons, at the request of the provisional government of Gregorio Luperón. It was lit for the first time on September 9, 1879. It is 24 meters high and rises about 50 meters above sea level. A spiral staircase runs inside. Its visit is of little interest today except for the beautiful panorama that is offered to our eyes... At its feet lies the new Anfiteatro de Puerto Plata, an open-air theatre inaugurated in 2016.

A square, imposing building, consisting of a wall framing a round, crenellated central tower. Its strategic position enabled it to effectively defend the port entrance against pirate attacks. It is the only building in Puerto Plata to date from the ^16th century. The fortress was used as a court of justice and then as a military prison on several occasions, notably from 1930 to 1961, during the Trujillo dictatorship. Inside, a small military museum displays the cell of Juan Pablo Duarte, Father of the Fatherland, who was detained here in August 1844.