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Mirage in the Jungle

Author: Richard Brunelli
Like any good mirage, Altos de Chavon doesn't quite make sense at first. High above the palm-pocked valley surrounding the Chavon River in the eastern region of La Romana, Altos de Chavon is little more than a healthy tee shot away from Casa de Campo, the mega-resort and golfers' paradise. But the village is more than a mere adjunct to the sprawling resort.

Step onto the uneven cobblestone streets of Altos de Chavon and you'll feel you've been transported into the center of some time-warped Mediterranean town. That's no accident. Roughly modeled on the artists' village of St. Paul Devance in the south of France, Altos de Chavon sprang to life in the mid-1970s under the direction of Roberto Copa, an architect and set designer who worked with Italian film director Federico Fellini.

Today, Altos de Chavon serves a sort of dual external/internal purpose: For travelers staying at Casa de Campo, the village includes some of the finest restaurants in the Dominican Republic, and for aspiring local artists there's a thriving art and design school, Altos de Chavon School of Design, affiliated with the Parsons School of Design in New York.

It's easy to spend a few hours at Altos de Chavon meandering past fanciful fountains, a beautiful stone church, a 5,000-seat amphitheater (where Frank Sinatra once sang), a museum dedicated to the pre-Columbian Tamno people, art galleries and shops. Stop anywhere in the village and you're guaranteed a breathtaking view of the Chavon River and the never-ending valley below.

Equally satisfying are the restaurants in the village. La Piazetta, with its expansive antipasto bar, has some of the best Italian food this side of the Tiber. There's also El Sombrero, a Mexican restaurant where strolling mariachis serenade diners; Cafi del Sol, a great pizzeria with 25 varieties of pies; and Casa del Rio, which serves up modern French cuisine with a Caribbean flair.

What gives the village heart and soul, though, are the talented Dominican artists who teach and study at the Altos de Chavon School of Design. On any given day, students, professors and artists-in-residence can be seen capturing the magnificence of their surroundings on film or canvas. Students learn everything from the traditional arts of painting and drawing to the more commercial skills of fashion design, graphic design, illustration and magazine layout.

"Altos de Chavon is sort of an invention," says Stephen Kaplan, rector of the art school. "It's Copa's fantasy. But this place isn't Disneyland paste board. There's a solid foundation for the arts here."

The vision of a faux Mediterranean village-cum-art-school in the heart of the Dominican jungle may seem a little paradoxical. But like any other good mirage, it makes perfect sense.

Posted online 11/01/98.

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