Banica (Elias Pina)

Banica town is in the Dominican, head of the municipality of the same name. It lies on the border with Haiti, next to the Artibonite River.  Banica is a modification of the Taino word Banique, meaning “land of ebony” identifying the region.

According to the Population and Housing Census 2002, the town has a total population of 7.272. 3.802 of whom were men and 3.470 women. The urban population of the town was 20.05%.  This population data includes the population of the boroughs and Sabana Sabana Cruz Higuera.

Villa Adelantado was founded by Diego Velasquez in 1504, on the left bank of the River Artibonite.  Population was high in the beginning, but then declined significantly.  In the late eighteenth century it was populated with immigrants from the Canary Islands, moving people a little away from river.  Abandoned in the early nineteenth century, it was restored during the period of Haitian domination (1822-1844) as part of the Department of Artibonito.
To proclaim the separation, the Board at the Central Governmental Department of Azua carried out a decree on July 2^nd 1844.   But the city was again vacated by its inhabitants, and remained unpopulated until the War of Restoration, which began to found new families coming from other border towns.

In 1938, Law No. 1521, joined the newly created Province Benefactor, now known as San Juan.  In 1942 it became the Municipality of San Rafael Province, the Province today known as Pina.

Iglesia de San Francisco de Asis.  It is a colonial building of much religious and cultural importance.  The exact date of its construction is unknown but in 1740 the Archbishop Sunday Pantaleon Alvarez Abreu noted that the Town of Banica was “a new church and well treated.”
Sundial

At the top of one side is the date 1795, which could be the date it was erected. The sundial and the Santo Domingo, Calle Las Damas sundials were the only ones over the former Spanish colony.

Cerro de San Francisco

It is a rocky hill at a distance of 1.5 km from the city, heading northeast. The report found a large cave that has been converted into a center of pilgrimage. In the interior of the cave, drops of water fall from above, the devotees of Saint Francis of Assisi lie beneath the drops falling on their heads or faces as they see it as holy water. Its walls are covered in a white limestone dust with which the pilgrims powder their face so it is easy to recognize them when they return to the cave.