The Ciudad Colonial is located on the west bank of theOzama River, which bisects the city. It covers 1.06 km2 (0.41 sq mi) bounded by a walled perimeter. It is an important section of the city due to the high number of landmarks, includingAlcázar de Colón,Fortaleza Ozama,Catedral de Santa María la Menor, and others. The area is the main tourist attraction of Santo Domingo, even though the main sites of governmental and commercial activity are now in the moremodern parts of the city.
The first settlement of what is now Santo Domingo was established byBartholomew Columbus on the East bank of theOzama River near the end of the 15th century. After the 1502 hurricane that claimedFrancisco de Bobadilla among its victims, however, the city was relocated on the West bank under the leadership ofNicolás de Ovando. Ovando and his successorDiego Colón presided over the first constructions of the Colonial City, many of which still exist today.Santo Domingo's fortifications were an important feature of the urban landscape. Thedefense wall (muralla) extended from theOzama River to thePuerta del Conde, which was the entrance to thehinterland and the Western boundary of the city until the late 19th century.
The Spaniards used this settlement as the first point of influence in the Americas, from which they conquered other Caribbean islands and much of the mainland of the Americas. Santo Domingo was initially the political and cultural hub of Spanish presence in the new world, but after a few decades started to decline as the Spaniards focused their attention more on the mainland after conqueringMexico,Peru, and other regions of Latin America. Ciudad Colonial nevertheless remained an important historical site.[2]
In 1655, the Ciudad Colonial was submitted to asiege led by the English officersWilliam Penn andRobert Venables. The 1655 invasion was thwarted by Spanish troops commanded by the Captain General of the Colony, Don Bernardino de Meneses y Bracamonte, Count of Peñalva, to whom thePuerta del Conde ("Gate of the Count") is named after.[3] Thedefensive wall was modified during this episode. Prior to the invasion, there was a fort at the site where thePuerta del Conde is today, Fuerte San Genaro. It is believed that the modification that occurred after the siege involved the expansion of the wall to the fort, effectively creating abastion,El Baluarte del Conde.
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, the city started to expand beyond its old boundaries but the Ciudad Colonial remained the main hub of activity until theTrujillo era. Trujillo also presided over the restoration of major monuments, including theAlcázar de Colón in the early 1950s.
The central public space of the district isParque Colon, a square that borders the 16th-century Cathedral and has a late-19th-century bronze statue ofChristopher Columbus in its center. East of Parque Colón, thecobblestone Calle Las Damas is the New World's oldest paved street, dating from 1502. The street is bordered by many of the zone's more prominent landmarks, includingFortaleza Ozama, the site of major events in Dominican history; Casa de Bastidas, which now houses a children's museum; the French Embassy, in a building said to have been the house ofHernán Cortés; the Casa de Ovando, said to be the former residence of GovernorNicolás de Ovando and now a luxury hotel calledHodelpa Nicolas de Ovando; theNational Pantheon of the Dominican Republic; and theMuseo de las Casas Reales, in the former governors' palace andAudiencia building.
Calle del Conde is a pedestrian-only street that includes several notable commercial buildings of the early 20th century and connects Parque Colon with thePuerta del Conde and Parque Independencia. Another traditional commercial district is the portion of Avenida Duarte just north of the Zona Colonial, which is currently undergoing a renovation plan that aims to make the area more appealing totourists.[4]
On the north end of Calle Las Damas, the restored and expanded Plaza de España is bordered by Las Atarazanas (former naval yard, now a museum) and a number of small shops and restaurants. This area was one of the first commercial centers in the Americas, and is still a hub of activity today. TheAlcázar de Colón, having once been the colonial palace of theColumbus family—beginning with his sonDiego—is now a museum displaying period furniture and decorations. The building was originally built in 1510, and restored to its current appearance in 1952.
A 700 million US dollar investment was made in the Port of the Ozama river adjacent to the Ciudad Colonial aiming to turn Santo Domingo into aport of call for luxury cruise ships and including a privately owned marina. The project is being completed by Sans Soucí Ports S.A.[5]
In the Ciudad Colonial there are different places built by the Spaniards during the colonial era, which together form more than 300 historical sites in the area; these include various monuments of cultural and historical character, as well as houses of great figures of the society of that time, but it can not fail to mention important streets, such as the Las Damas street. Some of these are:
Alcázar de Colón, first castle or viceroyal residence in the Americas. Today houses a 22 rooms museum
Casa deRodrigo de Bastidas, once home to the prominent Bastidas family, now a children's museum (Museo Infantil)
Casa del Cordón, built by theGaray family, perhaps the oldest still-erect stone building of the New World (1502) with a beautifully carved door frame in the form of a Franciscan friar's rope belt (cordón)
Casa de la Moneda or House of the Currency, built in 1540 with a door surrounded by five sculpted medallions in the early Renaissance style, today houses a museum of colonial coins
Casa of theDávila Family (One of the 3 houses that makes Hodelpa Nicolas de Ovando Hotel)
Casa deNicolás de Ovando, today part of the Hodelpa Nicolas de Ovando
Casa deCampuzano Polanco, later Casa de los Presidentes, now Arzobispado de Santo Domingo
Calle de los Nichos or del Arquillo chico, previously Calle del Mono in the XVI-XVII and Calle de los Polancos in the 18th century, today callePellerano Alfau, which is a pedestrian street. Both the Casa de Diego Caballero and the Campuzano Polanco are located in this street
Casa deAlonso de Zuazo, governor of Santo Domingo, located in front of the Campuzano Polanco residence, today Auditorio del Arzobispado
Casa de Hernán Cortés, thought to be the former house ofHernán Cortés, later became the residence of theOviedo family. Today houses the French Embassy
Casa deDiego del Rio, located next to the Casa de Alonso de Zuazo in Calle Las Damas, today houses the KahKow experience museum about the cacao of the island
Casas deGaspar de Astudillo, next to the above, located next to each other in front of the gate of Casa de Bastidas, one of two floors which houses the Sociedad Dominicana de Bibliofilos and another one of one floor which houses today the Dominican Lions Club
Casa of the Gargoyles, located at the beginning of the Calle de las Mercedes next to Casa of the Jesuits, it was the seat of the University of Santiago de la Paz and of Gorjón founded by the Jesuits in the middle of the 16th century
Casa of the Jesuits, located in Las Damas Street esq. Las Mercedes, was the seat of the University of Santiago de la Paz and Gorjón in the mid-eighteenth century
Casa de Juan de Villoria, sugar mill owner and testamentary executor ofDiego Columbus, located next to the Casa of the Gargoyles, today houses the Fundacion Dominicana de Desarrollo (FDD)
Casa deJuan de Ampies, founder of the city ofCoro and first Governor of Venezuela, next to the above (turned into one single house today), later became the residence of Genoese merchant Melchor Centurione, business partner of Juan de Villoria, today part of the FDD as well
Casa del Sacramento, built by the Garay family, now Arzobispado de Santo Domingo
Casa de "El Tapado", built by Dean Pedro Duque de Rivera in the middle of the 16th century. Takes its name from the legend of one of its residents who only came out at night. The legend says he was a Spanish noble with a disfigured face
Casa de Tostado, built in 1505 by scribe Francisco Tostado, father of the first poet of America, Francisco Tostado de la Peña (d. 1586), who was killed in theInvasion of Francis Drake. Today houses the Museum of the Dominican Family of the 19th century of furniture and antiquities (Museo de la Familia Dominicana del siglo XIX). The house is the only civilian building in the New World with agothic period window
Chapel del Rosario inside the Church and Convent of the Dominican Order, also known as the Chapel of the Zodiac, built by the Campuzano Polanco family in early 18th century. The only one of its kind in America and one of the four vaults with astrological representations that exist today in the world
Chapel of the Dominican Third Order, next to the Church of the Dominican Order
Museo de la Catedral, previously was La Carcel Vieja in colonial times (The Old Jail), then became the theater of theFilantropica society. Today houses a museum of religious objects from the Cathedral of the 16th to 19th centuries
Museo deJuan Pablo Duarte, in the house where the Dominican Republic's national hero was born
Museo del Ambar, or Amber World Museum, located in front of the Columbus Park. Contains a collection ofamber from the country with historical and scientific data
MuseoLarimar, museum about a gemstone only found in this island, located in the Isabel La Catolica street
Museo Naval de las Atarazanas, naval and underwater archeology museum of the island
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