While visiting the beautiful La Romana in the Dominican Republic, my friends and I signed up for a visit to Altos de Chavón with no idea what it was. But we kept seeing that it was considered a must see place of the area and so off we went to find out what exactly this favorite place was.
What we learned was that Altos de Chavón is a recreated 16th century Mediterranean village that has become both a visually stunning tourist site and a cultural gathering of local artists. Sitting on top of a hill that overlooks the Chavón river and also the blue waters of the Caribbean- this is a stunning place to explore.
The entire area of Altos de Chavón was meticulously created by local artisans as they brought to the life the idea of Dominican architect Jose Antonio Caro. Every detail was given the attention and pride of the passion of Caro in creating such a beautiful place.
At the center of the cobblestoned city is the beautiful St. Stanislaus church with the rust colored tiles above the simple beauty of the building. Often visitors can find local musicians singing and dancing at the entrance to the church.
The church was named after the patron saint of Poland, Stanislaus of Szczepanów, in honor of a visit from Pope John Paul II who visited Santo Domingo in 1979 and gave some of the ashes of the saint to the people.
The idea of creating this space first came in 1976 when there was a blasting project through the stone to make way for a road and bridge crossing the river. They would use the piles of rocks that were left over from the construction to recreate a village similar to what would have been in found in the capital of Santo Domingo.
Construction was completed in 1980 and has since become the most popular point of interest in La Romana and the surrounding areas. The streets are filled with restaurants, boutiques, and local artist studios. Walking through the streets and seeing the artists at work really brings to life the cultural artistry that is housed here.
On the far side of Altos de Chavón is the Roman styled amphitheater that holds over 5,000 people in it. This stage has seen its share of great musicians including Frank Sinatra, Santana, Heart, Michael Bublé, Ricky Martin to name a few.
Altos de Chavón is also home to a small archeology museum and a design school bringing together the artistic passion and the cultural heritage of the area. You can see the both of those throughout and together they make a really beautiful combination.
With one last look over the river from atop of the bell tower, we said goodbye to Altos de Chavón. It had been a unique and wonderful look at the corner of La Romana and it went from being a place we had never heard of to one of our favorite places within a short time. You just can’t help be enamored with the cobblestone streets, the streets of shops, and the lovely church overlooking the river.
21 responses to “Moments & Misadventures :: Visiting Altos de Chavón”
What a beautifully recreated village Meg and well worth visiting.
It was really lovely place. I loved how they used the rocks to create the buildings. I hope you have a great weekend Marion 🙂
I had never heard of Altos de Chavón and found your compact overview really interesting. I know so little about The Dominican Republic in general, so perhaps need to do some reading. They seem to have done a wonderful job recreating 16th century vibes, such impressive levels of craftsmanship throughout. They certainly picked a killer location for it. So dramatic and a lovely juxtaposition of greenery and stone. Imagine seeing oOl’ Blue Eyes perform in that amphitheatre. Great piece, Meg,
Thanks Leighton 🙂 Oh to see Ol’ Blue Eyes perform there- what an amazing experience that would be. The whole place just oozes charm and I love that you can see the rocks they used to build it all. And the location did just add that extra little umph to the whole vibe. I hope you have a great weekend!
What a fascinating place that I’ve never heard of! It would be a great place for a concert wouldn’t it?!
So true! Beautiful scenery and great acoustics- every musician should be clamering to perform here 🙂
Like the other commenters, I’ve not heard anything about this place before. Recreating an old village from the rubble of new roadways is an inspired idea.
I agree, what a great use of the rock and debris that were already there to make such a beautiful place 🙂
Looks like a lovely and inviting place to explore. I can see why it became a favorite for you. It was quite clever to have recreated this place out of rubble and debris; recycling at its best! Great post Meg!
Thank you! I really love their use of debris to make something beautiful. Its like every DIYers dream project 🙂 I hope you have a great rest of your weekend!
Agreed! I hope you’re having a good weekend as well.
What a pretty find. I love it when you go somewhere with no expectations and it ends up being a favorite discovery.
Me too, I love being so pleasantly surprised by somewhere you never knew of before. Everywhere I looked it was so beautifully created 🙂
You would never guess this was so new, they’ve done a great job in making it look authentically old and picturesque!
I think it really shows the skill making new things look so old like its been there for a hundred years. Amazing what they created with a pile of rocks 🙂
Altos de Chavon looks so charming. It’s hard to believe that this place exists in the Dominican. Sounds like a fun excursion. It would be so neat to attend a concert in the amphitheater.
I would love to see a concert there-they wouldnt need any special effects with a backdrop like that! It was certainly a favorite spot of our trip 🙂
I think they’ve done it really nicely -I’ve never been to Dom Rep but would love to go one day and see this. It’s not the place you expect to find somewhere named after the patron saint of Poland!!
Haha, so true-you would never guess there would be a polish saint in this corner of the Dominican Republic! It was really amazing to see what they created from a pile of discarded rocks 🙂
We visited there in Dominican Republic. Such an amazing stone.buildings in this area . Anita
The stone buildings were just beautiful! How fun that this is a shared location 🙂