Arènes de Santo Domingo, Bullring in Florencia, Colombia
The Plaza de Toros de Santo Domingo is a bullring in the Santo Domingo district of Florencia, on the 5th kilometre of the road to Morelia, opposite the Cofema slaughterhouse facilities. Built in 1985, it holds 4,200 spectators and hosts the bullfighting season during the October Feria de Florencia.
Built in 1985 on the order of drug trafficker Leonidas Vargas, the ring was inaugurated in October of that year with bullfights by Pepe Cáceres, Antonio José Galán and Cristóbal Cordobés, and vallenato performances by Rafael Orozco Maestre and Diomedes Díaz. After Vargas was arrested, a Colombian prosecutor ordered the forfeiture of 135 properties including the ring on 27 July 2001; in September 2010 the 22 hectares were handed to Comfaca.
The bullfighting season is held during the Feria de Florencia in October, when well-known national bullfighters traditionally appear. The French source places the feria on 9 December, with bullfighting shows organized by Taurinos Solidarios, an international charity led in Colombia by Manolo Delgado, for the benefit of Amazonian communities.
The bullring stands in the Santo Domingo district, at kilometre 5 of the road from Florencia to Morelia, opposite the Cofema slaughterhouse facilities. It is outside the city centre, so arrange transport in advance. The October bullfighting season during the Feria de Florencia is the main time events are held there.
The bullring opened in October 1985 with performances by Pepe Cáceres, Antonio José Galán and Cristóbal Cordobés, while vallenato singers Rafael Orozco Maestre and Diomedes Díaz provided the music. Its manager, former matador Jesús Gonzalo Galindo Scarpeta, known as "El Timy del Caquetá", took his alternativa in this same ring on 13 October 1985, with Pepe Cáceres as padrino and Antonio José Galán as witness, facing bulls of the Achury Viejo ranch.
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