Altos de Chavon

Altos de Chavon

Altos de Chavon Artists Village is a vibrant cultural community perched above the Chavon River.

Cobblestone paths, coral stone fountains and terra cotta buildings create a magical effect in this village designed by Robert Coppa, an Italian architect.

Coppa worked as a Paramount movie set designer and he built the village in the late 1970s to emulate a 15th century southern Italian/Southern Spanish village.

The craft workshops are effectively small production centers where trained local artisans execute ceramic, silk-screen, and woven-fibre products.

From the lively clay apothecary jars to the brightly colored tapestries found in traditional Dominican houses, the craftsmen keep the richness of island myth, folklore, and handcrafted expression very much alive.

Whilst appealing to tourists the products retain their authentic integrity.

Weddings are frequent at the St. Stanislaus Church [see photo left], as few places can be more romantic than this.

More on Dominican Republic weddings

The village is perched high above the Chavon River embodies half a millennium of the island's finest tradition of crafts and art.

The distant mountains of eastern Hispaniola merge with the sea to create the perfect setting for this celebration of the region's past.

Ampitheatre [see below left]

The performing arts are showcased in the village's spectacular 5,000-seat open-air amphitheatre.

Since its inauguration in 1982 by Frank Sinatra and Carlos Santana, the amphitheater has hosted concerts, symphonies, theatrical events, and festivals.

Artists of the calibre of Julio Iglesias, Gloria Estefan, Sergio Mendes, Dizzy Gillespie, Air Supply, Pilobulos, and the Dance Theatre of Harlem have all performed here.

Regional museum

The Regional Museum of Archaeology at Altos documents the island's rich pre-Columbian heritage.

You can trace the evolution of indigenous cultures from the preceramic era to the time of the Taino Indians, the island's predominant civilization during the arrival of the Spanish conquerors.

There is an extraordinary collection of more than 3,000 artifacts which were discovered in he region where the Museum is now located, on the banks of the Chavon River.

An educational center for scientific and cultural research, the Regional Museum of Archaeology draws thousands of visitors each year.

Or even Dominican Larimar!

The Gallery at Altos is dedicated to the promotion of national culture through the exhibition of Dominican art.

It also serves as host to high-level international exhibitors.

Dominican artists who show at the Gallery gain vital access to the large number of worldwide visitors to Altos de Chavon. At the same time, international artists exhibiting at the Gallery are offered entree to the Dominican art community, resulting in a rich dialogue and cross-cultural interchange.

You may be interested in the nearby town of Bayahibe

Or Dominican food

Or flights to the Dominican republic

Or Punta Cana activities

Or weather in the Dominican republic

Or my gig in a Dominican women`s prison with the British Ambassador!