El Seibo, Dominican Republic


Santa Cruz del Seibo is a municipality in the El Seibo Province of the Dominican Republic, located in the eastern part of the country.

History

El Seibo is one of the oldest towns in the country, it was created by the Constitution of November 6, 1844 although it already existed as a territorial division since colonial times, for this reason its foundation dates back to 1502 by the Spanish conqueror Juan de Esquivel. The name of Seibo comes from a tribal chief of Taino race.
The name of Santa Cruz de El Seibo, is taken from the Spanish custom of placing the Cruz de Cristo in the cardinal points, as protection against evils. A cross called Asomante is still preserved, in the West Sector of the city of El Seibo.

Notable residents

Some of the distinguished people from El Seibo include Manuela Diez, mother of Juan Pablo Duarte, Cesáreo Guillermo and Alexander Woss y Gil, who were Presidents of the Republic. In addition, Monsignor Octavio A. Beras, Archbishop of Santo Domingo and Cardinal of the Catholic Church and Minerva Bernardino, who represented the country in several international events and defended women's rights, were also from Santa Cruz del Seibo, as well as world-renowned and respected tenor, Francisco Casanova. Also famed baseball player Cesar Jeronimo. Famous psychiatrist and public personality: Dr. Máximo Beras Goico; TV personality, actor and comedian: Freddy Beras Goico, and pop singer and TV personality Charytín.

Attractions

El Seibo, which venerates Saint Cruz with great fervor, have celebrations to honour this saint from 1 May to 10 May. It is the only city in the country that in its supervisory celebrations organizes bullfights.
Another attraction of the supervisory celebrations is the popular vigil of "atabales", a type of popular percussive music. These celebrations enjoy great popularity in all sectors of the community.

Climate