Tourism inaugurates Pilgrimage Boulevard and reconstruction of surrounding streets of the Basilica of Higüey

President Luis Abinader and Tourism Minister David Collado inaugurated this Friday the Pilgrimage Boulevard and the reconstruction of the streets surrounding the Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia Basilica, with an investment of more than RD$115,000,000. The works, which represent a great boost for religious tourism in the country, included an intervention of 9,300 square meters, including the paving of 362 linear meters of the main access road to the Basilica, Agustin Guerrero Avenue.

It also includes the construction of 5,120 meters of paved sidewalks and 904 linear meters of curbs. The Via Sacra project consists of the construction of 14 stelae representing the Mysteries of the Sorrows and Joys of the Virgin, which will serve as a religious tourist route for devotees and tourists visiting the emblematic sanctuary.

The tour will start from the San Dionisio Sanctuary to the Basilica of Our Lady of Altagracia. President Luis Abinader said that these works will have a great impact on religious tourism, as part of the diversified offer offered by the Eastern region, where most tourists visit the country. Minister Collado, who agreed with President Abinader, stressed the importance of these works in the development and strengthening of religious tourism, which, he said, is growing in the Dominican Republic.

“These works were an old cry of the residents of the province of La Altagracia and also constitute a great impulse for the development of religious tourism and more here in the cradle of the Virgin of Altagracia,” said the official. He expressed that the new Via Sacra, which will promote the monument of the Basilica Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia, will become the most important religious symbol of the entire region, which will bring to Higüey a large part of the more than 5 million foreigners who visit the province each year.

The works, carried out by the Executing Committee for Infrastructure in Tourist Zones (CEIZTUR), also include the reconstruction of the 615 square meter Monseñor Adolfo Nouel Park. The beautification of the inaugurated Via Sacra includes landscaping, equipment, lighting and underground work on the high and medium voltage electrical wiring, as well as telecommunications and existing wiring, and a system of scuppers and filters for the effective management of rain drainage and conservation of the road.

It also has a system of scuppers and filters for effective management of rainwater drainage and conservation of the road. It should also be noted that the stelae were donated by Grupo SID. The main provincial, municipal and religious authorities of La Altagracia, as well as businessmen from the tourism sector, attended the inauguration ceremony.