Strolling through the stone-paved alleys of Altos de Chavón in the Dominican Republic, one could easily mistake it for a centuries-old European village. Looks can be deceiving, though, as this Mediterranean-style hamlet was meticulously designed just a few decades ago as a backdrop for a luxury resort east of La Romana.
By: Omri Westmark
Date: 14:32 01.02.25
Last Update: 14:35 01.02.25
Perched on a hilltop above the meandering Chavón River, Altos de Chavón rises like a mirage, a Mediterranean reverie transplanted into the southern coast of the Dominican Republic. Conceived in the 1970s by industrialist Charles Bluhdorn, then-chairman of Gulf+Western, this architectural folly was born from happenstance.
When dynamite was used to clear a road through the mountains, Bluhdorn saw potential in the displaced limestone. Rather than discard it, he envisioned an entire village, a European-style sanctuary etched into the Caribbean landscape. The rubble was then carefully repurposed, each stone cut and shaped to form the structures of what would become the nascent hamlet.
Realized by Italian cinematographer Roberto Coppa and Dominican architect José Antonio Caro, Altos de Chavón took six years to construct. Local artisans lent their skills to the endeavor, employing time-honored techniques in stone-cutting and woodworking.
The result is an uncanny simulacrum of a 16th-century Mediterranean settlement, featuring narrow, winding streets lined with shuttered limestone façades, ivy-clad archways, and a timeworn charm that belies its relatively recent origins. A pastiche, perhaps, but one so meticulously rendered that it feels lived-in, as though history has quietly accumulated between its cobbles.
St. Stanislaus Church
photography by: Omri Westmark
photography by: Omri Westmark
A winding path in one of the gardens
photography by: Omri Westmark
photography by: Omri Westmark
photography by: Omri Westmark
photography by: Omri Westmark
The Chavón River and its verdant banks
photography by: Omri Westmark
A lookout over the Chavón River
photography by: Omri Westmark
One of the town’s most prominent features is the St. Stanislaus Church, named after the patron saint of Poland in tribute to Pope John Paul II, who visited the Dominican Republic in 1979 and gifted the church with relics of the saint. The church, with its stone bell tower and quaint courtyard, has become a coveted venue for weddings in recent years.
Perhaps the complex’s centerpiece is the 5,000-seat open-air amphitheater, designed in a Greco-Roman style. Inaugurated in 1982 with the Concert for the Americas featuring Frank Sinatra and Carlos Santana, it has since hosted a series of international artists, including Elton John, Sting, and Gloria Estefan. When it doesn’t host music concerts, the site’s empty grandstands are occasionally roamed by curious onlookers who gawk at its fake décor.
Altos de Chavón also boasts a renowned design school affiliated with Parsons School of Design in New York. Founded in 1983, the institution offers programs in fashion, fine arts, and digital design. Many of its graduates have gone on to achieve international recognition in the creative industries. Elsewhere, there is a cultural center, along with multiple art galleries and workshops where visitors can learn pottery, weaving, and printmaking.
For those drawn to deeper histories, the Regional Museum of Archaeology houses a medley of pre-Columbian artifacts that shed light on the lives of the indigenous Taíno people who once inhabited these lands. Meanwhile, the surrounding landscape, with its panoramic views of the Chavón River, has served as a cinematic backdrop for films like Apocalypse Now and Rambo: First Blood Part II.
Neither wholly past nor present, European nor Caribbean, Altos de Chavón occupies a liminal space—a place where fantasy and reality entwine, where history is not inherited but artfully constructed.
The complex is now part of the Casa de Campo Resort and Villas, a coastal resort near the city of La Romana, on the southern part of the island. Note that visiting entails an entrance fee of $50 USD for adults and $25 USD for children aged 4 to 12.
The village’s main square
photography by: Omri Westmark
The site’s amphitheater
photography by: Omri Westmark
The seats as viewed from the stage
photography by: Omri Westmark
An eye-catching fountain inspired by Roman architecture
photography by: Omri Westmark
photography by: Omri Westmark
photography by: Omri Westmark
Altos de Chavón Archaeological Museum
photography by: Omri Westmark
photography by: Omri Westmark
