Cotuí

**Cotuí** is a city in the Dominican Republic and is one of the oldest cities of the New World. It is the capital of Sánchez Ramírez Province in the Cibao. During the 1822–44 Haitian occupation, the city was officially designated as **Cotuy**.

## Cotuí

### Region

Sánchez Ramírez Province
Cibao S

## About

It was founded in 1505 by Rodrigo de Trillo for order of Nicolas de Ovando, who was the governor of Hispaniola. Cotuí was the name of a Taíno community who governed the area. The city is well known for its gold, silver, iron, bauxite, marble and nickel mines, its rich soils and the largest artificial lake in the Caribbean, Presa de Hatillo. It is also known for its crystal clear rivers, and its caverns (prehistoric caves called Guácaras). It produces rice, plantains, cacao, pineapples, passion fruits, and yams. Cotui is also the hometown of Mets pitcher Duaner Sánchez, Milwaukee Brewers pitcher José Capellán and Blue Jays player Teoscar Hernández.

## History

The city of Cotuí was part of the jurisdiction of La Villa de la Buenaventura until 1519. The Jerónimos Fathers then separated it from that jurisdiction and established it as a mining center under the name of **La Mejorada del Cotuí**, also called **Los Mineros** in the second decade of the sixteenth century. In 1533, Cotuí acquired the category of villa and began to become known as **La Mejorada Villa del Cotuí**. A strong earthquake ravaged the village in 1562 and was moved to its current location, north of the Sierra de Yamasá and close to the Yuna River.

## Etymolygy

Its name, formerly written **Cotuy** or **Cotoy**, was the name of the Taino community located around the gold and silver mine exploited by Spanish conquistadors from the first decade of the sixteenth century.

## Geography

Cotuí is located at 19.0583° N, 70.1530° W. According to the ONE, this municipality has a total land area of 619.89 square kilometers (239.34 square miles). It is bordered by the town of Fantino on the northwest, the town of La Mata on the north, the Duarte Province towns of Pimentel and Hostos on the northeast, the town of Cevicos on the east, the Monte Plata towns of Peralvilla and Yamasá on the southeast, and the Monseñor Nouel Province town of Maimón on the southwest, and the city of Bonao on the west.

## Heritage

**Carnival of Cotuí**

The carnival, although it has its origins in Spain is strongly influenced by African culture. The carnival has several carnival characters but the one that most identifies the cotuisano is the Papelús, which is made of any type of paper, years ago newspaper was used a lot, today the colorful paper that gives the carnival more color is used. Another character is the Platanús is the one that gives rise to the Papelus because it is older, besides a character that has already been lost is the Middle Day, this character is pure African.

**Feast of the Holy Spirit**

Another cultural manifestation of the place is the celebration of the religious magical feast of the Holy Spirit. It is held between the months of May and June of each year, and the organization is called brotherhood or brotherhood. This celebration is characterized by the touch and singing of the sticks or aabales. It is the oldest brotherhood in the New World founded by cleric Alvaro de Castro in 1529.

**Patron saint festivities**

I counted as all the peoples of the country have their main festivities every year, these festivities are celebrated in honor of the Immaculate Virgin Conception, they start from November 30th to December 8th. It is one of the oldest patron saint festivities in the country.

## Local Flavor

The typical dish of the municipality is white rice with vegetable dry, it is only consumed in Cotuí and if you add avocado is even tastier. In the municipality the sancocho of any type of meat is consumed a lot: pork, beef, chicken, duck, etc. In the mid-19th century the Dominican writer Pedro Francisco Bonó passed through Cevicos and Cotuí and mentioned in one of his books that he requested inn in Cevicos and gave him a tasty dish of sancocho. It should also be mentioned that locals love bean sancocho and asopao.

After the operation of the Hatillo Dam began, a number of fish such as carp, tilapia, trout and others that have revolutionized local food are bred on its lake, as there are restaurants in the municipality that specialize in these dishes.