Azua was destroyed by fire three times in the Haitian wars:
in 1805, by order of the Haitian emperor Dessalines, in 1844 by
President Herard, and in 1849 by President Soulouque. To-day it is
the most important town in the southwestern part of the Republic.
Situated in an arid region, like Monte Cristi, it is similar to many a
town in New Mexico and Arizona, with hot, sunny, shadeless streets
beginning and ending in space, one story houses, a great plain of dark
green beyond the town and purple mountains in the distance. The houses
here are of wood or stone and with thatched or zinc roofs. There is a
large new church, the images in which seem to be very old and do not
distinguish themselves for beauty. The town is about three miles
inland from the port, but a branch of a narrow gauge plantation
railroad connects the city with the wharf and on steamer days a
passenger car makes several trips. Azua is famous throughout Santo
Domingo for its excellent "dulce de leche," a kind of milk taffy,
which is well made elsewhere in the Republic, but is better in Azua as
it is here prepared from goat's milk.
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