The Dominican city of Azua de Compostela, or simply Azua, is the head municipality of the Azua province, on the south of the country, about 5 km north of the Caribbean coast. It is also called sometimes Compostela de Azua.
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Azua is the Taíno name of the region where the old city was founded. In this place, Pedro Gallego (or Pedro Mariscal), a Spanish colonist, developed a farm and he gave it the name of Compostela after Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, nortwestern Spain.
In 1751 there was a strong earthquake that destroyed the old town and a new one was founded on the right (western) side of the River Vía, where the modern city is now.
Because Azua is on the road that goes from the western part of the island to Santo Domingo, the city was destroyed several times during the Dominican-Haitian War (1844-1856). Two important battles (the Azua Battles) were fought in the city; the first was on 19 March 1844 and the second on 1849.
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