Santo Domingo is a picturesque town, with working men and women, a place well known and respected for cultivating folklore. These characters were born here and have given glory to this town, not only to their beloved region, but to all of Panama. We can mention from Lucy Jaen, the greatest singer that Panama has had; to Italo Herrera, violinist of international fame, who has won many awards; even Jose de los Santos Barrios, violinist and composer, also with many awards; Arquimedes (Melly) Herrera, great composer, author of “How cute is Santo Domingo”.
A Tradition-Making Town
Women, who are expert weavers have been born here, they are the ones who make skirts, “tembleques” and everything related to Panama’s folkloric costumes. Tuesday Carnival in Santo Domingo is internationally famous for the Calle Arriba (upstreet) and Calle Abajo (downstreet) Tuna Parades with showy skirts, where even hatched women from neighboring towns decide to participate because of the great tradition of this festival.
A Village Since 1909
Santo Domingo is a town located on the Pacific side, a few kilometers from Mensabe Port, and at three minutes from Las Tablas Town on the road to Pedasi. It belongs to Las Tablas District, Los Santos Province. It is a township since 1909, when it still had the name of La Teta. The name of La Teta (women breast) was due to the fact that very close to the town on the outskirts, there is a hill that is identical in shape to the woman’s bosom.
In 1913, Las Tablas Priests, Father Ceferino Arrue and Broce, gave Pedro (Arcangeli) Vergara, a La Teta native, the image of Santo Domingo de Guzman so that he could take it to his town with the purpose of making Santo Domingo a saint, the Town’s Patron. In 1915 the local people decided to change the name’s town to Santo Domingo. The patron saint festivities begin with the novenas on July 26 and end on August 4, the day of mass and the patron saint.
One of a Kind Festivity
This town is the only place in the world where the “Perote” Festival is celebrated. It consists of a beach walk, singing and dancing with tuna sonas (traditional music from Azuero Peninsula) and getting muddy. This festival is celebrated during the months of August, September and October of each year, and the songs that are used are typical of that activity.
Cradle of Great Sportsmen
In sports, Santo Domingo has given many athletes, who have represented Los Santos Province with dignity in different disciplines. In this thriving land Justino “Speed” Herrera was born, who was the first pitcher from Los Santos Province to beat the powerful Herrera Team. This happened in 1948. It must be taken into consideration that Herrera Province, at that time, was among the favorite teams in the whole country, such as Panama, Colon and Bocas del Toro.
This beautiful town has its own sewerage, health center, parish house, a a tourist center such as Playa El Uverito, the Mensabe port, a modern park, basketball court, a baseball stadium, the renowned School Melquisidec Vásquez and much more.
For all that and much more, all the people who were born in this picturesque town sing with pride, “how beautiful, how beautiful Santo Domingo is, yes sir; How beautiful, how beautiful Santo Domingo is ”.
