Santiago de los Caballeros: the country's second-largest city, in the heart of the Cibao Valley

The original colony was founded by Christopher Columbus himself in 1495 on the north bank of the Yaque del Norte river. Santiago de los Caballeros was one of the first towns in the New World. It was then called "Santiago de los Treinta Caballeros" (Santiago of the Thirty Gentlemen), because its first founders were simply thirty! Santiago de los Caballeros was named after the 30 Spanish aristocrats who followed Columbus and settled here in 1495, founding the country's first capital.

Destroyed by an earthquake in 1506, it was rebuilt on its current site, only to be levelled again by an earthquake on 2 December 1562. The Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration is the city's most emblematic monument, paying tribute to the heroes of the War of the Restoration between 1863 and 1865. This war pitted Dominican independence fighters against Spain, which had recolonised the country 17 years after its independence.

Santiago de los Caballeros, strategically located, has at times served as the capital of the Dominican Republic. Today, it can console itself by being the undisputed capital of cigars!

When we think of cigars, we often think of Cuba, but the Dominican Republic produces 44% of the world's finest cigars. The Dominican Republic is the world's leading cigar producer and exporter, ahead of Cuba, with over 200 million cigars sold every year! Production is concentrated in the agricultural region of Cibao, in the north-west of the country. The main factories are based in Santiago de los Caballeros, the region's capital.

Of the 190 million cigars produced in the Dominican Republic, 150 million were rolled in Santiago de los Caballeros! The country even has a National Cigar Institute. The countless varieties of these handmade cigars are very tempting. Some are flavoured with vanilla. Davidoff, Aurora, Juan Clemente, Arturo Fuente, E Leon Jimenez and Pleiades are the best-known brands. Cigars from the Dominican Republic have had an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC), "Cigare Dominicain", since December 2011.

The Dominican Republic leads the world in the manufacture of quality cigars. An international cigar festival, Procigar, is held every February in Santiago de los Caballeros, where eleven of the world's finest cigars are made.

Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration

Also known as the Santiago Monument, the Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration was erected at the top of a small hill to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Dominican Republic's independence on 27 February 1844. A staircase of 365 steps leads to the top of this 74-metre-high tower, which is partly covered in marble. The interior houses a museum on the heroes of the War of Restoration of the Republic (including General Gregorio Luperon), as well as commemorative murals by the Spanish painter Vela Zanetti.

The San Luis fortress

Built in 1874 near the Yaque del Norte river to the south-west of the city, this yellow-tinted fortress was a strategic defensive post during the War of the Restoration, when it was the scene of fierce fighting. The US Marines used the fort as a base during the first American occupation of the Dominican Republic from 1916 to 1924.

Inside the walls are numerous cannons, army tanks and statues of the heroes of Dominican independence. Since 2005, a small museum has been exhibiting Taino relics, paintings, period swords and photographs of the American occupation of the fort.

Santiago Apóstol Cathedral

Designed in a Gothic and neoclassical style, this all-white Catholic cathedral was built in the 19th century opposite the central park of Santiago de los Caballeros. It houses superb stained glass windows and the remains of the former Dominican president, Ulises Heureaux, who was assassinated in 1889.

The Cibao Valley

The Cibao region stretches from Santiago to Santo Domingo in the heart of a vast plain bordering the Cordillera Central to the west. It occupies a large part of the centre of the country and is home to particularly fertile fields and plantations of coffee, sugar cane, tobacco and bananas. There are even rice fields at the foot of the Cordillera Oriental! But beyond its superb landscapes, what makes this region so unique is above all its unique identity, as a country within the country.

Nestling between two mountain ranges, Cibao is also one of the Dominican Republic's leading eco-tourism destinations, where hiking, the national sport, is practised in the heart of a breathtaking natural environment.Santo Cerro, to the north-east of La Vega, is one of the country's most sacred sites. The 14-metre high cross overlooking the Cibao valley is dedicated to Our Lady of Las Mercedes, patron saint of the Dominican Republic.