Santo Cerro

Santo Cerro stands on a hill above La Vega with a church, Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, and a view over the whole Cibao valley, and it is one of the country's principal pilgrimage sites, drawing very large numbers each September. Tradition attaches the site to an early encounter between Spanish forces and Taíno people and to a cross planted there, and a hole in the sanctuary floor is said to mark where it stood.

What you actually see

• The church - Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes on the hilltop.
• The Cibao view - the valley spread out below from the terrace.
• The Santo Hoyo - the hole in the floor said to mark the site of the cross.
• The September pilgrimage - the crowds that come for the feast.

When to go

September brings the main pilgrimage and very large crowds. The rest of the year it is quiet. The church keeps daily hours.

Honest expectations

Outside the pilgrimage there is little beyond the church and the view. The traditions attached to the site are devotional rather than documented. Roads are jammed during the feast.

Nearby

La Vega is below, and Jarabacoa is south.