Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo is the capital of the Dominican Republic, a port city on the Caribbean coast of Hispaniola at the mouth of the Ozama River. It was the first lasting European city in the Americas, and its Colonial Zone is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Bartholomew Columbus, brother of Christopher Columbus, founded the town in 1496 on the east bank of the Ozama. Governor Nicolás de Ovando moved it to the west bank early in the 16th century and laid out its streets in a grid, a model for later Spanish cities in the Americas. The first cathedral, monastery and university of the New World were founded there, and the city was the base of the Spanish expeditions to the other islands and the mainland. The Dominican Republic declared its independence in the city in 1844 at the old gate in the western wall. For a time in the 20th century the city carried the name Ciudad Trujillo before it took back its old name.

Cervecería Nacional Dominicana, based in Santo Domingo, brews Presidente beer. Grupo Rica, also based in the city, makes milk, juices and yogurts sold across the country. The port of Santo Domingo, on the Ozama, receives cruise ships at a terminal beside the old town.

The Cathedral of Santa María la Menor, built in the early 16th century, is the oldest cathedral in the Americas. The Alcázar de Colón, the coral stone palace of Diego Columbus, son of Christopher Columbus, shows furniture and tapestries of the period. The Ozama Fortress, begun in the early 16th century, is the oldest military building of European origin in the Americas. Merengue, the dance music of the country, is played in its bars and on its seafront promenade.