La Vega, Dominican Republic

Ruins of La Concepción fortress at Pueblo Viejo National Park.

Christopher Columbus built a small fort near present-day La Vega, in 1494, intended to guard the route to the interior gold deposits of the Cibao valley. A Spanish settlement known as Concepción de la Vega gradually grew up around the fort.[4] After 1508, when gold was found in quantity there, Concepción became the first gold boomtown in the island.

By 1510 it was one of the largest and most important European cities in the hemisphere. The town was destroyed and buried by an earthquake on December 2, 1562, and the survivors moved to the present site on the banks of the Camú River. The site of the ruined town remained largely farmland until a small part of the original city was bought by the Dominican government in the mid-1970s and renamed as Pueblo Viejo National Park.

The local industries are based upon cacao, coffee, tobacco, rice, and cattle production. There is also a small but very famous brewery called Cervecería Vegana known for its pilsener-style beers, named Quisqueya and Soberana. There is a factory known for making the famous sausage Induveca.

La Vega is bounded on the north by the Camú River. This river flows about 100 kilometers before emptying into Yuna River. South of the city is the Cordillera Central, the largest mountain system of the Dominican Republic. El Ponton Field, a local airport, bounds the city on the east. To La Vega's west are the Camú River again and Montellano.

La Vega has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification: Af)

The shrine of Our Lady of Mercy called Santo Cerro is located in the place where Virgin Mary appeared to Christopher Columbus during a battle.

There is an extension of the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña and there is the Universidad Católica Tecnológica del Cibao. Since 2005 the national and local governments are planning to build an extension of the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, but there are some conflicts and the project is behind schedule. This city also has one of the most expensive schools in the country, the famous Colegio Agustiniano, which is the only in the country.

Private, public, and high schools

Eugenio María de Hostos School

Private Schools & High schools	Public Schools & High Schools
Agustiniano	Arenoso School
Cardenal Sancha	Don Pepe Alvarez High School
La Vega Christian School	Del Carmen School
Don Luis Despradel	Garcia Godoy
Eugenio Maria De Hostos	Mercedez Morel
Immacualada Concepción	Mitila Grullón
Nuveluz Elementary Private School	Mercedez Morel
Padre Fantino Bilingual School	Padre Lamarche
Santo Tomás De Aquino	San Miguel Elementary School
U.N.P.H.U.	San Antonio Public school
Vega Nueva	San Martín De Porres

Laura vicuña

There are many bus companies which travel between La Vega other cities like: Santo Domingo, Santiago, Samana, Puerto Plata, and others. There is also El Ponton Field, which serves domestics flights.

Each year between the months of October and December a basketball tournament is held in this city, it is called in Spanish Torneo Superior de Baloncesto de La Vega in English Superior Basketball Tournament of La Vega, This tournament started in October 1994 (after a time of political and cultural crisis between the years 1978 and October 1994). One team is still active, the other ("El Country Team") disappearing.

a match being held between La Matica and Enrriquillo

• El Parque Hostos is the most winning team with ten crowns (1995, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2018) and five times as runner up (1997,2003,2008, 2014, 2015).
• La Matica is the second most winning team with five crowns (1994, 1999, 2000, 2010, 2011), six times as first runner up (1998, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) and qualified to the finals in 1996 but that year's finale was eventually canceled.
• DOSA is the third most winning team with five crowns (1998, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2017) and five times as first runner up (2001, 2009, 2010, 2013,2019).
• Enriquillo is the fourth most winning team with three crowns (2003, 2016, 2019), and two time as first runner up (2012,2017) and qualified to the finals in 1996 but that year's finale was eventually canceled.
• La Villa is the fifth most winning team with two crowns (1997, 2015) and five times as runner up (1994, 1999, 2000, 2011, 2016, 2018).
• In the tournament number 19 (2012) was the first time in the history of this tournament that none of the most winning teams Club La Matica & Club Parque Hostos didn't advance to the final.

• Juan Bosch: famous writer, former President of the Dominican Republic, from February 27, 1963 to September 24, 1963, and for decades a top, national political leader
• Zoilo H. Garcia: Aviator
• Luis Alberti: Musician
• Juan Carlos Payano: boxer
• Victoriano Sosa: Boxer
• Antonio Guzmán Fernández: former President of the Dominican Republic, 1978–1982
• Larimar Fiallo: Miss Dominican Republic 2004
• Cirilo J Guzmán: Lawyer
• Francisco Moncion: ballet dancer, charter member of the New York City Ballet and choreographer
• Carlos de la Mota: Televisa actor
• Vielka Valenzuela: Miss Dominican Republic 1994
• Carola Durán: Miss Dominican Republic 2012
• Jonathan Villar: professional baseball shortstop for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball.

• 
  The Catedral of La Vega
• 
  Plaza Duarte
• 
  A typical neighborhood
• 
  Commercial center in La Vega
• 
  Electrical center in La Vega