San Pedro de Macorís

San Pedro de Macorís grew rich on sugar in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the boom left a waterfront of substantial buildings including the Saint Peter the Apostle church and the fire station, which have aged unevenly. Workers came from the English-speaking Caribbean to cut cane, and their descendants, the cocolos, kept a masked dance drama tradition that UNESCO later recognised. The city has produced an extraordinary number of major league baseball players.

History

People settled on the western bank of the Higuamo River in growing numbers after 1822, and after 1840 they moved to the eastern bank, where the city stands today; in 1846 the Dominican Senate made the region a military post at the inhabitants' request. The first Catholic church was founded on 1 October 1856, and in 1858 the priest Elías González suggested renaming Macorix as San Pedro de Macorís, after its patron saint, whose feast is celebrated each year from 22 to 29 June. Cuban immigrants of the late 19th century brought knowledge of sugarcane farming, and the first sugar mill, founded by Juan Amechazurra, ground its first cane on 9 January 1879; the city reached its peak in the first quarter of the 20th century, when high sugar prices brought wealth and many Europeans settled here, and the San Pedro Apóstol cathedral opened in 1910. It was the first Dominican city to receive seaplanes and had the country's first fire brigade, first national baseball championship and first telephone and telegraph centres, and the workers recruited from the Lesser Antilles and their descendants, the Cocolos, came to form most of its population (Wikipedia, San Pedro de Macorís).

Highlights

• The sugar-era buildings - the waterfront architecture from the boom years.
• The cocolo tradition - the masked dance drama kept by the descendants of cane cutters.
• The baseball history - a city that has sent an unusual number of players to the major leagues.
• The Higuamo river - the waterfront the old city was built along.

When to go

December to April is drier and more comfortable. Cocolo performances cluster around Christmas and Saint Peter's day. Baseball season runs October to January.

Practical notes

Much of the historic fabric is in poor repair. There is little set up for visitors and no museum of substance. Cocolo performances are tied to specific dates and cannot be arranged on demand.

Nearby

La Romana is east, and Santo Domingo is west.

Key facts