Things to see and do San Cristóbal

This six-storey palace, built on Trujillo's orders on a hill overlooking the city in the 1930s, is a massive concrete building with no particular charm. Its construction was entrusted to the engineer Henry Gazón. The dictator never occupied the place, but he had the walls decorated with frescos of the famous Spanish painter José Vela Zanetti (1913-1999). The palace was transformed into a hotel in the 1970s and then abandoned in the late 1990s, before renovations were undertaken.

On the same road as the mahogany house, here is the natural freshwater pool that was used by the dictator Trujillo at the time. Transformed into a playful swimming area, with slides and a relaxation area, the Toma is a privileged place for the inhabitants of San Cristobal and the surrounding area. Its cool waters are appreciated during the hot season, which is almost all year round, and there is also a playground and food and drink outlets. There is also a playground and food and drink outlets, as well as regular entertainment and concerts.

For those curious about the Trujillo era, the dictator's country house, once lined with mahogany on the inside (hence the name mahogany house), contains an important collection of objects that belonged to him. It is located a few kilometers from the city, at the end of a stony track that should be restored. To get there, in fact, you have to go towards La Toma and turn left at the aqueduct. This is not a priority visit on your trip, but it can be arranged while exploring the surroundings.

The church was built in the 19th century, in front of Trujillo's birthplace. It was to receive the remains of his family members. The church was named after Padre Ayala, a priest born in La Vega in 1789. He was taken prisoner by the Haitian Dessalines in 1805, took part in the Reconquest battles in 1809, then found his way by entering the orders in 1815. He was responsible for the construction of the Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, which he began in 1828 and completed about ten years later. He died in 1879 at the age of 90.

This church, built in 1949 at the request and with the financing of Trujillo, was built by the French architect Henry Gazón Bona. Nuestra Senora de la Consolacion was a gift from the dictator to his native city. The temple is decorated in its central nave with murals by the famous Spanish painter-muralist José Vela Zanetti. Unfortunately, the complex was destroyed in 1979 by the hurricane David, of sinister memory, and has been rebuilt since then.

The building, which houses the headquarters of the San Cristóbal Town Hall, was inaugurated in 1937. Easily recognizable by the small tower - on the top of which stands a clock - flanked by a one-story building, it was built entirely of reinforced concrete, in an architectural style of baroque-victorian inspiration, typical of the beginning of the last century. Because of its design and its representation in Dominican architecture, it has been declared "Cultural Heritage of the Dominican Republic". A construction that deserves a quick look.

Discovered in 1851 by a British consul, this geological formation, composed of some fifty caves, bears witness to Taíno rock art. More than 6,000 petroglyphs represent fish, reptiles and human figures. The caves, classified as a Unesco World Heritage Site, are home to large colonies of bats and were a place of veneration for the Taino people who performed rites there. The incredible wealth of rock art covering the walls of these caves makes the area the prehistoric capital of the Antilles.