"Santiago" Santiago de los Caballeros by ValbyDK

Santiago de los Caballeros (or simply Santiago) was founded in 1495 during the first wave of European colonization of the New World. The original colony was in the city of Jacagua, but after an earthquake in 1506, it was moved to its present location.

Santiago was an important strategic city in the Dominican War of Independence in 1844, and has sometimes been the capital of the country. Today Santiago is the second largest city in the Dominican Republic with an approximate population in the range of 1000000 inhabitants.

Santiago

Santiago is a major traffic point in the Dominican Republic, and therefore I have been to Santiago numerous times. When you are travelling from Santo Domingo (south) to the north-western part of the Dominican Republic you must pass through Santiago – and if you are travelling with bus - Santiago often means you also have to change to another bus.

I have stayed overnight in Santiago a couple of times, and find the City to have an OK night life, great shopping opportunities, several cultural activities… and of course the Aguilas…

Aguilucho

In 2006, I watched my first baseball game ever: Águilas vs. Licey, and from that day I was sold. In Denmark I have watched the soccer derby in Copenhagen between Brøndby IF and FC Copenhagen many times, but the atmosphere in a Danish football stadium is nothing compared with the atmosphere in a Dominican baseball ground: Drums, singing, dancing, Brugal, cervezas, merengue…

In 2008 I saw Águilas vs. Licey twice, so I will now call myself a Danish ‘Aguilucho’… by the way, I have never seen Águilas loose a game…

Read more about Águilas Cibaeñas here: www.aguiluchos.com.

• In a nutshell:Nightlife, shopping and baseball...