The City of Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo is the oldest city founded by Europeans in the Americas: founded by Bartolomé Colón, Columbus' brother, in 1496 on the shore of the Ozama river. Its current situation is not the original one, as it was moved by Nicolás de Ovando in 1502. There we can see the New World first street, the first cathedral, first university, first hospital... The so-called Colonial Zone is like traveling in time back to the 16th century.

If you want to know more about those times, don't miss the city's museums:

Museo de las Casas Reales
Calle Las Damas, Santo Domingo
Teléfono: (809) 682-4202
9 a.m. – 5 p.m. daily
The building ws the siege of the Supreme court in the 16th century. This museum illustrates the rich heritage of Santo Domingo with tapestries, maps and other objects dating back from 1492 to 1821.

Alcázar de Colón
Zona Colonial, Santo Domingo
Teléfono: (809) 686-8657
9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Daily
This palace was built in 1500 by Diego Colón, Columbus' son, and has object that belonged to the Dsicoverer. The square where it is located has plenty of shops, bars and restaurants. Don't miss the opportunity to enjoy the ambiance.

Other interesting museums are: the Museum of the Dominican Man (Plaza de la Cultura, Santo Domingo. Tel.: 809-686-2145, hosts an excellent collection of pre-Columbian art and also of African tradition with samples of voodoo elements and carnival costumes) and the National Museum of History and Geography (Plaza de la Cultura, Santo Domingo. Tel.: 809-686-2145, showing main features of the first inhabitants of the island, the American Occupation and relationship with Haiti).

But Santo Domingo is not just that: the modern part of the city, full of high-rise apartment towers and malls, is full of animation day and night.
The skyline of Santo Domingo, is dominated by the prominent silhouette of the 31-storey Malecón Center facing the seaside avenue of the same name; and in the outskirts of the city the Botanical Garden has an excellent collection of trees and plants, including some rare varieties that only grow in this island. Among the trees that can be seen there, the national tree: the flamboyán or framboyán.