Concepción de la Vega

Infobox City
official_name = Concepción de la Vega
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image_shield = COA Of La Vega.jpg
shield_size = 200px
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mapsize = 200px
map_caption = Location of La Vega in the Dominican Republic
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = Dominican Republic
subdivision_type1 = Province
subdivision_name1 = Province
subdivision_type2 = Municipality
subdivision_name2 = Concepción de la Vega
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established_title = Founded
established_date = 1494
established_title2 = Relocated
established_date2 = December 2, 1562
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area_total_km2 = 651.33
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population_as_of = 2008 est.
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population_total = 339,145
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timezone = GMT-4
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latd= 19 |latm= 13 |lats= |latNS= N
longd= 70 |longm= 32 |longs= |longEW= W
elevation_m = 500
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website = http://www.lavega.com
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Concepción de La Vega better known as La Vega, is the largest city and municipality of the central Dominican Republic.

History

In 1494, Christopher Columbus built a small fort near what is today the actual town of La Vega in the central Dominican Republic. It was intended to guard the route to the interior gold deposits of the Cibao valley. A Spanish settlement known as Concepción de la Vega gradually grew up around the fort, and after 1508, when gold was found in quantity there, Concepción became the first gold boomtown in the continent. By 1510 it was one of the largest and most important European cities in the hemisphere. The town was destroyed and buried by an earthquake on December 2, 1562, and the survivors relocated to the present site on the banks of the Camú River. The site of the ruined town remained largely in farmland until 1975, when a small portion of the original city was purchased by the Dominican government in 1976 and named as the National Park of Concepción de la Vega.

Economy

Local industries are based upon cacao, coffee, tobacco, rice and cattle production. There is also a small but very famous brewery called Cervecería Vegana known for its pilsener-style beers, "Quisqueya" and "Soberana".

Education

There is an extension of the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña and there is the "Universidad Católica Tecnológica del Cibao".

Transportation

The city is 125 km from Santo Domingo on the DR-1. Several bus companies on several schedules reach the city daily. There is also El Ponton Airport for domestic flights only.

Culture

February is known as the Carnaval month in La Vega and is the most famous in the entire country. The patron saint is the "Virgen de las Mercedes", celebrated on September 24.

Notable people

*Juan Bosch
*Antonio Guzmán Fernández