While everyone else is heading to the Dominican Republic for the big city feels of Santo Domingo or the beaches of Puerto Plata, you’re off for an off the beaten path in the Dominican Republic vacation. With dozens of universities, including the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra, tons of galleries and art centers, history museums galore, and plenty of outdoor activity, the small city of Santiago de los Caballeros, in the north of the country, is truly a historic, cultural, and educational gem of the Dominican Republic. 

While we were only there for two days, we felt that it was a nice charming city, located three hours away from the hectic city of Santo Domingo.

The Monumento a los héroes de la Restauración (Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration of the Republic) is located on a hill on the eastern side of the centre of Santiago de los Caballeros, at the most colorful and emblematic place of the city and one of the most visited ones in the Dominican Republic.

It was originally built under the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo with the name of “Monument to the Peace of Trujillo” and inaugurated on September 30, 1953. After the fall of the dictator, the name of the monument was changed to the current one.

The monument was completely renovated and it reopened in 2007 to house lifesized exhibitions of the Dominican history, as well as bronze statues of famous local generals and former players of the baseball team of the city, Las Águilas Cibaeñas. On the upper floors there is a patriotic library and a terrace that offers panoramic views of the city, but the tower has been permanently closed for security reasons.

The building is formed by a 70-metre high tower partially covered by marble, and it is accessible from a staircase of 365 steps; this number meant that the dictator took care of its citizens through each day of the year. At the top of the stairs it is easy to imagine what it means to be a citizen of the republic, because the struggle of the Dominican people against the Spanish empire to regain its sovereignty has been commemorated.

After visiting the monument, we headed to the city centre to take a walk along the streets. We passed by a church where a wedding ceremony had just ended and the people were waiting for mass. The guy giving out pamphlets spoke to me in Spanish and asked where we were from.

As night fell, we left the busy shopping streets of the city centre as we did not want to be caught in a risky situation. Apparently it is not so safe to wander around the city centre at night. There was a nice statue of a heart-shaped Santiago, making it a suitable place for phototaking.

In the evening, we met up with my friends for dinner. One was a guy whom I had met in Paris in 2014 and the other was a couchsurfing guy who happened to stay at the same place as us. It was a convivial dinner as we got to know more about the Dominican culture. My local friend could not stop reminiscing about the fun times we had in Paris during the youth conference that we attended in 2014.

The food at Square One (Estación de Combustibles Total La Universitaria) was reasonable and they had a lively atmosphere, so we went there for dinner and breakfast the next day. In my opinion, the dinner menu was average, they served items such as burgers, pasta and Mexican tacos.

Looking at the breakfast spread, it was really filling and only cost $3 per person. The 2x2x2 is really value for money, with two eggs prepared according to your choice, two fluffy pancakes, two slices of bacon, two sausages, accompanied with sautéed potatoes and a choice of hot coffee or tea. It was filling and delicious!

Art is all around the city.

On the second day, we drove back to Santo Domingo then to Punta Cana to catch our flight. The total journey takes about six hours. The mountains and lush countryside were some of the beautiful scenery that we saw. If you have more time, you could continue your journey up north to Puerto Plata for the beach. Santiago de los Caballeros is off the beaten path and you would enjoy the chill vibes of the city. People in Santiago do not drive as crazily as those in Santo Domingo.