For the next three months (from 5 March to 18 June 2024), history buffs who understand Spanish are in for the treat of 17 talks by some of the country’s foremost historians. These are not ordinary history talks, as those who attended the first talk by Juan Daniel Balcacer, president of the Dominican Academy of History, on Monday, 19 February can attest. The presenters provide details that will surprise even knowledgeable and well-read Dominicans will hear there first.
The effort is an initiative of Juan Llado, one of the country’s most noted tourism experts, who twice a week for years has met with friends (Los Kaisers) under a tree in the Callejón de Regina in the Colonial City. He is one of the most prolific writers in depth on the tourism industry with several published books.
Lladó wrote an article during the pandemic on how he observed in 2020 that the flowers were in greater bloom in that year and it inspired him to do something to bring more flowers to the Colonial City now under a second US$90 million intervention.
The contribution is RD$3,000 that can be paid by bank transfer or at the door of the Convento de los Dominicos venue on Calle Padre Billini on any evening of the talks. The talks are mostly on Tuesdays. The event has the backing of the Cluster of Santo Domingo, and the Association of Owners and Residents of the Colonial City.
Bougainvilleas are the main flowers in the Colonial City, but the effort may add others. The effort is called Florhisto (Historical Flowers). In the words of Juan Llado, the initiative seeks to enhance the experience of foreigners and residents visiting the historical center of the capital city. In short, it intends to make the historical center more attractive.
The next talks are:
5 March. Legends and Traditions of the Historical Center. Kin Sanchez
12 March. Nicolas de Ovando and Anacaona. Edwin Espinal.
19 March. The Natives of the Historic Center. Gabriel Atiles.
26 March. Duarte and the Hosts of Herard. Miguel Núñez Asencio.
2 April. Count of Peñalva and the English Invasion. Bernardo Vega.
9 April. Juan Pablo Duarte and the Duarte Family. Wilson Gomez.
16 April. Santo Domingo and the First University in the Americas. Fernando Perez Menem.
26 April (Friday). The Dominican Monks and Anton de Montesinos. Jose Chez Checo
30 April. The Choice of the Site to Found Santo Domingo. Amadeo Julián.
7 May. Profile of the Santo Domingo Cathedral. Virginia Flores.
14 May. The Colonial City and its Witnesses. Frank Moya Pons.
21 May. The stamp of Trujillo on the Colonial City. Leonardo Conde.
28 May. Eugenio Perez Montas.
4 June. Gastronomic Encounter of Two Worlds. Bolivar Troncoso.
11 June. Francisco del Rosario Sanchez. Filiberto Cruz.
18 June. UNESCO Historical Heritage Site. Risoris Silvestre.
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20 February 2024