"El granero del Sur" San Juan de la Maguana by marielexoteria

San Juan de la Maguana (San Juan to make it short) is one of the oldest cities in the DR, founded on the year 1503 by Captain Diego de Velásquez by order of the then governor Nicolás de Ovando.

The name of San Juan de la Maguana comes from (1) San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist), their patron saint, and the cacicazgo (chiefdoms) of Maguana. Before the arrival of Columbus, the island was divided into 5 chiefdoms and Maguana was one of them, with Taíno chieftess (female chief?) Anacaona. San Juan celebrates its patron saint festivities the 24th of June every year, but different municipalities have different patron saints and different dates for their celebration of the festivities.

San Juan became a province under the dictatorship of Trujillo and during that time its name changed to "Benefactor" but it became San Juan again after he died.

Some important battles were fought here, including the Battle of Santomé, where Dominicans under the command of General José María Cabral defeated the Haitians on Dec 22nd, 1855.

Nowadays, most of the grains eaten are produced here - no wonder why San Juan has become "El granero del Sur" (sort of "The Barn of the South").

The province of San Juan is home for the highest mountain in the country and the Caribbean: Pico Duarte and home of the biggest national park in the country: Parque Nacional José del Carmen Ramírez.

The pictures on this page are taken from Serie 012 until I get pictures myself.

• In a nutshell:El sanjuanero nunca tiene mala cara