On the opposite side of the street, the magnificent architectural complex is part of what in colonial times was called the Casas Reales (Royal Estates). There, the Real Audiencia (Royal Audience Chamber) a superior court with jurisdiction in all the New World was established on April 5, 1511 by an edict of King Ferdinand. It later housed the Palacio de los Gobernadores y de la Capitanía General (Mansion of the Governors and the Captains-General).

The Real Audiencia circumscribed the limits of authority granted to Viceroy Don Diego Colón.  Following the 1795 Spanish cession of eastern Hispaniola to France as part of the treaty of Basle, the Real Audiencia was transferred to Cuba on November 12, 1799.

From the southern facade of the Casas Reales, facing Las Mercedes Street, one can admire the only known coat of arms in the world of Queen Juana de la Castilla, who aptly earned the appelation “Juana la Loca”, wife of Felipe el Hermoso. This artifact is currently on public display at the Museo de las Casas Reales, more than three centuries after Spain’s twilight in Hispaniola.

Downhill on Calle Las Damas, to the right, is the Puerta de San Diego. This portal, constructed between 1540 and 1555, allowed to the walled city from the harbor.

To the left is the Plaza de la Contratación (The Trading Post) and, continuing to Calle Isabel la Católica, La Casa del Cordón dating to the early 16th century. It is the first residential property to be built in Santo Domingo. Its first owner, Francisco de Garay, arrived with Christopher Columbus on his first voyage. According to the historical records, Garay was also the notary public in Hispaniola; he is also known to have amassed an immense fortune in real estate. When King Ferdinand appointed Francisco Tapia mayor of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, he also asked Don Diego Colón to vacate his residence at the Torre del Homenaje. Colon then temporarily occupied the Casa del Cordón with his wife and entourage. It was here that his daughters Felipa and María were born in 1510 and 1511respectively. Nowadays, it serves as the offices of the Banco Popular Dominicano, the entity that financed its restoration. It may be visited at no charge.

A few meters away stands the Alcázar de Colón, grandiose and majestic abode that Don Diego Colón ordered to be constructed as his residence. Construction work on the Alcázar’s began in 1510, with some 1,500 native Taínos laboring under the watchful eye of Spanish architects who were brought to the island for that purpose.

Work was accomplished with very rudimentary tools: saws, chisels, and hammers. This magnificent palace, a mix of Gothic-Mudejar and Spanish and Italian Renaissance styles, was completed without the use of a single nail in any of its 22 rooms or on any of the 72 doors and windows that, even today, pivot open and shut with the help of huge mahogany cross-bars embedded in the thick walls.

There, in 1512 and 1513, respectively, Juana and Isabel, the other two daughters of the couple, were born. The adjoining chapel, whose original structure has been preserved, witnessed the marriage of Enriquillo and Mencía were married in 1517.

Probably an unknown to most people, Enriquillo is to most Dominicans the very incarnation of rebellion against injustice. His personal history is very inspiring. Thanks to one of our greatest novelists, Manuel de Jesús Galván, the epic of his life history, which bears his name, is available as a book.

There is certainly much to say about him. However, any introduction would have to begin with the fact that in 1533 one Captain Francisco de Barrionuevo arrived in Hispaniola aboard an imperial man-of-war. Under his command were 200 soldiers, and in his hand was a treaty signed by Charles V, that was to become very first diplomatic document between a European power and a New World polity.

The document, addressed to Enriquillo, called for the abolition of slavery. This hitherto humble Taíno, who had now become indomitable and proud, and whose strength was inspired by his people’s just claim to respect and dignity, signed the document and placed it on his head as a sign of approval, and immediately ordered his followers to go down the Bahoruco Sierra (mountain) to comply with the treaty.

The original walls of Alcazar have braved the storms of time and still stand to this day, silent witnesses to the many intrigues, triumphs and agonies that the descendants of Admiral Don Christopher Columbus endured for nearly seven decades.

The Alcázar was the seat of the first Spanish court of the New World and of the tribunal of the viceroyalty. From here, the New World was administered, military strategies were hatched, and expeditions were launched. Ultimately, this nerve-center of power and authority facilitated the colonization of Guatemala, Cuba, Peru, Mexico, Florida, Puerto Rico, Colombia, and Jamaica.

The Palace was restored in 1955 under the direction of the Spanish architect, Javier Barroso.

La

The brilliance of 15th and 16th-century architectural expression is reflected in the colossal, antiquated buildings of the Atarazanas (shipyards). The narrow streets that barely separate them from the Alcázar de Colón, the admiralty, offer visitors a unique opportunity of recalling an era whose very history is the cornerstone of the heritage of all Americans.

Through its jealously guarded rustic windows, an apparition of a damsel slowly forms albeit an imaginary being. She is clad in the fashion of the age, part of her face is covered with blush as she receives, fan in hand, the illustrious citizens who first established the first Spanish court in the Americas.

Opposite the wall, reconstructed in the 20th century, is the magnificent 16th-century monument. It is built entirely of bricks and used to house the Casa de Contratación (The Trading Post) and the first customs and excise outpost of the New World.

The Reales Atarazanas (Royal Shipyards) constitute a grandiose complex, unmatched in its kind in the Americas. Their only nemesis is the Atarazanas Reales de Barcelona, considered an architectural jewel of the Catalan port.

The individual buildings of the Atarazanas are connected through interior courtyards, now home to art galleries, gift shops, restaurants and the offices of the cultural heritage association. The museum of the viceroyalty is also located here; and visitors can see displays of primary documents of historical importance bearing the signatures of Catholic kings Ferdinand and Isabella Past the tower is a beautiful walkway contiguous to where Christopher Columbus moored his caravel on his second voyage to the New World.

From here one can see the Faro a Colon (Columbus Lighthouse), a mausoleum that holds his mortal remains. Unquestionably, it is the most fitting tribute to his memory.

On the east bank of the Ozama River stands the Capilla del Rosario, the city’s oldest church dating back to 1496, when the city, then called New Isabella, was on the other side of the river. There is proof that here, in 1544, Friar Bartolomé de las Casas celebrated mass to bless the expeditionary force that set sail from here to colonize Guatemala.

Ascending the slope where the craft shops are located, one comes to Isabel la Católica Street (formerly Calle del Comercio). A right turn at the end of the street leads to a colonial church and a fortress complex, the only one of its kind in the city. The church and Fort Santa Bárbara (as the complex is called) were built around 1574 on a former stone-quarry that supplied the material for most of the colonial city’s monuments. It was also in this very chapel that Juan Pablo Duarte, the country’s founding father, was baptized.

From its gardens one can view the colonial city from a different perspective. Walking along Arzobispo Meriño Street leads eventually to the Casa de la Moneda y el Monasterio de San Francisco. At the corner of Delmonte y Tejada stand the ruins of the Monasterio de San Francisco (Franciscan monastery), constructed in 1512. It was here that the Taíno named Guarocuya was baptized into the Christian faith and educated. He has gone down in Dominican history under the now famous, cryptic sobriquet “Enriquillo”.

Farther along Arzobispo Meriño Street, a right turn on Luperón Street leads to the first hospital in the New World, San Nicolás de Bari. Within its walls stand the first chapel dedicated to the Virgen de la Altagracia (The Virgin of the Most High), patroness of Hispaniola.  Constructed in 1503, it has maintained its majestic architectural form through the centuries.

A leisurely stroll from Arzobispo Meriño to El Conde Street leads to a marketplace of local and foreign products, and to the general and jewelry shops of the colonial district.

As we share with our guests the fascinating pages of our country’s history, it is equally important for us to divulge that Hispaniola is, after all, the old casona (big house) of the Americas whose secret treasure-trove will continue to enthrall all generations.

According to historical census records, the colonial district encompasses some three hundred monuments, churches, street and residences. It would therefore be wise to spread your visit over a couple of trips. However, add to the repertoire of things to see the Cathedral of Santa María of the Incarnation, the first in the Americas and a source of imperishable pride for Dominicans.

At a time when renascent classical forms were undergoing a reappraisal in Spain, the architect Alonso de Rodríguez received on May 25, 1510 a royal edict to start construction on a cathedral in Santo Domingo de Guzmán.

He sailed for Hispaniola on June 13th of that same year with eleven constructors and two stonemasons. Soon afterward, Don Diego Colón laid the foundation stone and work commenced. Nevertheless, the excitement generated by the prospect of booty on conquistador expeditions drained the project of its skilled labor. Many workers, attracted by tales of wealth on the outskirts of the Spanish empire, abandoned the project. A dejected yet resourceful Alonso de Rodríguez embarked for Mexico, armed with the construction plans, where he built the Catedral de Ciudad México (Cathedral of Mexico City).

In 1519, Bishop Alejandro Geraldini arrived on the island and bitterly complained about the stark disparity between the opulent lifestyles of the congregation and the “bohio-like “ (hut-like) structure that passed for a cathedral. He tried to resurrect the project by symbolically laying another foundation stone on March 25, 1521. The effort to jump-start the project took two years. For 17 years, time crept in its very petty pace while barely any progress was made. Eventually the project was completed. However, the unfinished belfry, that stands to this day, is a reminder of the trials and tribulations of this house of worship.

The cathedral combines late Gothic and Renaissance elements, and even though is predominant features belong to the classical features predominate.

In l546, Pope Paul III elevated it to the status of Catedral Metropolitana y Primada de las Indias (First Metropolitan Cathedral of the Indies), thereby according it an ecclesiastically superior rank over other churches in the New World, and transforming it into the hemisphere’s Christian heart.

Its floor plan has, in addition to the main altar, fourteen chapels where urns containing the ashes of many renowned individuals are kept forever alive in the collective memory.

Three doors lead into the interior: the north door faces Columbus Park; the one to the south faces Plazoleta de los Curas (Small Plaza of the Priests), also known as the Puerta del Perdón (Portal of Clemency). For many political dissidents, reaching the threshold of this portal meant being in a safe haven. Well before international treaties recognized diplomatic immunities, extradition agreements, or asylum or refugee status, it was the perpetual beacon of hope for the renegade. Given the turmoil of our world today, we could probably use many such portals of clemency.

The plateresque-style main door leads to an atrium that, in the 19th century, was converted into a market during the Haitian military occupation.

Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid on May 20, 1506. King Ferdinand ordered that an epitaph be placed over his grave with the inscription: “To Castilla and León, Colon gave a New World.”

Columbus’ mortal remains were laid to rest in Seville until Doña María de Toledo brought them, together with those of her own husband, Don Diego Colón, to the place where they had asked to be buried. The mortal remains were buried in a crypt in the cathedral’s main altar.

In 1586, England’s notorious pirate, Sir Francis Drake, plundered Santo Domingo. Given the record of havoc and destruction that had always been left in the wake of his activities, the bishop of the diocese ordered the obliteration of all inscriptions to reduce the probability of desecration by Drake and his henchmen.

When Spain ceded eastern Hispaniola to France in 1795, in compliance with the terms of the treaty of Basle, Cuba (which was then still under Spanish rule) staked a claim to urn containing the remains of Columbus because “[the urn] deserved to be in Spanish territory.”

Charged with the express duty of retrieving the remains of Columbus, a group arrived in Santo Domingo, headed for the crypt under the cathedral’s main altar, and promptly left with the first urn they found—they were convinced it contained the remains of the admiral.

However, in 1877, when restoration work on the Cathedral was begun, it was with utter amazement that Father Francisco Xavier Billini found, September 10th of the same year, a lead urn with the inscription “Illustrious Man Don Christopher Columbus, First Admiral of the Americas”; the engraving had been done in Valladolid when the remains were ordered moved for public viewing to the chapel Santa María de las Cuevas, in Seville.

Don Emiliano Tejada, the eminent Dominican historian recorded in his book Los Restos de Colón (Columbus’ Remains), the events of September 1877 in Santo Domingo.

According to this historical record, the country’s office holders, members of the diplomatic corps, ecclesiastical and military authorities were all summoned to the Cathedral on that fateful day and, before their very eyes, the artifact was examined, declared to be genuine and true and this was attested to by the notary publics who signed the document.

The Reverend Canónigo Francisco Xavier Billini opened the urn and showed the remains to the public; indeed the fine rock crystal on it was carved. The priest read aloud the inscription which confirmed, without shadow of a doubt, that the remains were certainly those of the Illustrious Genoese, Great Admiral, Don Christopher Columbus, Discoverer of America.”

Immediately, a twenty-one gun salute was fired by the Plaza’s artillery unit, bells tolled from church belfries, and the first notes of martial music blared from military bands. People were thrilled beyond words.

In 1992, the urn and the mausoleum were moved to the Faro a Colón (Columbus Lighthouse), the most outstanding monument built in this century to honor the memory of the Discoverer of Americas, Christopher Columbus. There lie, in peace, the mortal remains of the great admiral.Each country in the Americas has held an exhibition to honor his name.

El Conde street, the Colonial district’s commercial center is a paved street that encompasses from Parque Colón (Columbus Park) to Parque Independencia (Independence Park). The only pedestrian street in the city, it was named in honor of the Conde de Peñalva, Governor of Hispaniola, who in 1655 helped defend the city against the English.

Upon arriving at Parque Independencia, you can visit the mausoleum, where the remains of the Founding Fathers (Duarte, Sánchez and Mella) lie. Under the frontispiece of the Puerta del Conde there is a votive lamp that burns in their honor, as a sign of the Dominican people’s respect and veneration for their heroic deed.

To the north you can see the remains of the wall that protected the colonial city and the Fuerte de la Concepción (Conception Fort), a 17th-century military watchtower.

To the south, on Palo Hincado street, stands the Puerta de la Misericordia (Door of Mercy), the place where Ramón Matías Mella fired the shot that proclaimed the national independence on February 27, 1844.

If you rent a car, review the map that guides you from the city to Autopista Duarte.

In addition, modern, comfortable buses run on fixed schedules from the terminals located in the cities covered by their routes.

This highway, considered an ecological highway, offers a magnificent panoramic view of the Dominican countryside. Maximum speed allowed, and controlled by radar, is 80 kph.

You are now heading north through the Cibao valley, meaning “many peaks or mountains” in the Taíno language. Christopher Columbus named it Vega Real and for Dominicans it is “la tierra de María Santísima” (the land of the Most Holy Mary).

In this region, the fertile land is good for cultivating any grain, and this exceptional condition is explains its obviously high population density.

The roadside is a great market of seasonal fruits that cooperatives and country-folk sell.

Dominikánská republika je unikátní turistickou destinací v Karibiku. Její blahodárné podnebí Vám umožní sledovat nebo se zúčastnit různých sportovních či rekreačních aktivit po dobu celého roku. Prostřednictvím místních rekreačních a turistických center jsou pravidelně organizovány různé sportovní aktivity a turnaje.