Go Barahona

At the eastern end of the Bahoruco Mountain Range, 10 km from the town of Barahona, lie the only two existing mines in the world that produce a semi-precious stone of a strange composition, an enigma to geologists, fascinating to tourists.

Many researchers agree that it is a volcanic pectolyte, with particular characteristics and whose color evokes the different shades white foam, blue, turquoise, gray and the green of the Caribbean Sea, bathed by the gilded rays of the Antillean sun on the southern coasts.

It was discovered little by little. The first reports date back to 1916, when Father Miguel Domingo Fuentes in a letter dated 22nd November, informed Archbishop Nouel about the finding of a blue stone of unequalled beauty.

It wasn't until 1974 when the craftsman from the capital, Miguel Méndez, joined forces with Norman Rolling, a Peace Corps volunteer, and started doing some research which brought about promising results. Additional tests were done at the Smithsonian Institute, in the United States, using samples of the blue mineral, and the result was that the stone is volcanic from semi-precious pectolyte.

Later on, Méndez decided to combine the name of his eldest daughter (Larissa) and the word"sea", (mar, in Spanish), where everybody knows the blue pectolyte comes from, to form the name: Larimar.

The craftsman Miguel Méndez decided to combine the name of his eldest daughter (Larissa) and the word "sea", (mar in Spanish) to form the name: "Larimar".

Over 200 Dominican craftsmen and nearly 300 families work in the business of Larimar extraction and craft-making, which today enjoys similar popularity to ambar in the whole country .The Larimar Museum was opened in the Colonial Area of the city where jewels of exquisite creative craftsmanship are on exhibition showing the beauty of this turquoise blue treasure.

Tourists can visit the mines on excursions with expert guides.

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