DOMINICAN REPUBLIC The heart of Santo Domingo, known as the Zona Colonial or Colonial Zone, dates back to 1492, when explorer Christopher Columbus anchored here during his voyage to the New World. He named the island now known as the Dominican Republic - Hispaniola (little Spain), and his brother, Bartholomew, subsequently established the earliest Spanish outpost in the Americas.
Now a Unesco World Heritage Site, the 11 square blocks that make up the origins of the capital house the oldest cathedral, street and European fortress in the Americas, along with the governors’ residences and administrative palaces, which have been carefully restored to their original grandeur. Alongside these, you’ll find plazas, statues, monuments and buildings that have been repurposed into museums, shops, restaurants and hotels. With so much to take in,…