1492 to 1502: discovery and founding
Columbus sighted the bay in 1492 on his first voyage. He named it Puerto Plata (Silver Port) for the silvery clouds over Mount Isabel de Torres. Nicolas de Ovando founded the formal town in 1502.
1564 to 1577: Fortaleza San Felipe
After decades of pirate raids, Spain built Fortaleza San Felipe. King Philip II ordered it completed in 1577 and gave the finished fort his own name.
1605: Devastaciones
The Spanish crown ordered the surrounding town destroyed to stop locals trading with English and Dutch smugglers. Puerto Plata was reduced to almost nothing. The fortress stood almost alone in the bay for 140 years.
1740s: repopulation
The town was officially refounded with families from the Canary Islands. Slow growth followed.
19th century: Victorian boom
Sugar, tobacco and trade with the US made Puerto Plata wealthy. Victorian mansions went up around Parque Independencia. The historic centre you walk today dates largely from this period.
20th and 21st century
The town quieted after the sugar bust, then revived with tourism (Playa Dorada in the 1970s, all-inclusives in the 1980s, cruise terminals in the 2010s). Fortaleza San Felipe is the through-line that connects all five centuries.
Frequently asked questions
Puerto Plata was founded in 1502 by Spanish governor Nicolas de Ovando, a decade after Columbus first sighted the bay in 1492. It was one of the first European-founded cities in the Americas.
