President Danilo Medina was present for the inaugural of the Santa Bárbara Church (Iglesia Santa Bárbara de los Hombres del Mar) in the Colonial City. The Church of Saint Barbara of the Men of the Sea was the first parish in the New World, only preceded by what is today known as the Santo Domingo Cathedral. A plaza with capacity for 2,500 people and a garden area with capacity for 400 people were added for religious and cultural activities.
For the restoration of the work, hydrogeological, geophysical and geotechnical studies were carried out to define solutions for structural reinforcement without affecting the original architecture of the historical monument.
Francisco Pagán, director of the Supervisory Office for Public Works of the Presidency that carried out the project, emphasized the historical value of the work: “This work speaks for itself. It was here that Juan Pablo Duarte was baptized into the Catholic faith. The baptismal font is the same. Underneath the church floors is the tomb of a sister of the founding father. Ana María Duarte Díez died when she was six years old, according to a document of the time.
Also present for the inaugural were Monsignor Francisco Ozoria Acosta, Metropolitan Archbishop of Santo Domingo; Culture Minister Eduardo Selman, Minister of Culture; Juan Daniel Balcácer, president of the Permanent Commission of National Historical Events; and Juan Gilberto Núñez, sculptor and museographer, who was in charge of the project.
CDN reported the renovations cost taxpayers upwards of RD$160 million.
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23 December 2019