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CITY OF FIRSTS

Santo Domingo is attracting a lot of attention these days with an array of infrastructure improvements, including an upgraded airport terminal, new hotels and a shiny new Metro rail system – as well as plans to develop the port into a high-end complex for visiting cruise passengers. But as the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the Americas, the town still has plenty of old-world elegance five full centuries after its founding.

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The city’s Spanish heritage comes alive in the Zona Colonial, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the Parque Colón, a bronze statue of Christopher Columbus stands as the centerpiece, but the giant Catedral Santa María la Menor dominates the park. It debuted in 1540 as the first cathedral in the Americas, and the limestone building is full of Gothic and baroque nooks that make for delightful exploration. A few blocks toward the Atlantic Ocean is the Fortaleza Ozama, the oldest fortress in the Western Hemisphere. Enthusiastic guides of varying skill levels (set up a tour at your hotel for the best experience) offer their services, and a single castle-like tower rises from the central lawn for good views of the city’s original point of entry. For a clear picture of Santo Domingo’s role in Spanish history, the Museo de las Casas Reales (Museum of the Royal Houses), contained within what was once the 16th-century governor’s supreme court, offers everything from drugstore memorabilia and pirate gear to ornate colonial-era furnishings.

But history is more than a museum piece in Santo Domingo. The Hostal Nicolas de Ovando – which gracefully occupies the former home of Nicolas de Ovando, governor from 1502 to 1509 – still welcomes guests, who step outside to tread upon cobblestone Calle las Damas, the first paved road in the New World. They can also spend a relaxed Saturday night at Pat’e Palo – which first opened in 1505 and is billed as the oldest bistro in the New World – seated at heavy wooden tables, munching on fried plantains in the candlelight. The warm Caribbean breeze carries conversations in both Spanish and English from people strolling down La Atarazana. Across the plaza, the graceful arches and wide balconies of the regal Alcázar de Colón demand attention; by some reckonings, it is the first European palace in the hemisphere. Saturday nights the palace hosts Noches Vivas del Alcázar, “living night” tours led by actors elaborately costumed in the thick embroidery and wigs of the Columbus family and the 16th-century Spanish royal court. The tour, as it turns out, is less a historically detailed discourse and more a chance to eavesdrop (albeit in Spanish) on scandals, romances and political strategizing that may or may not have actually happened in the palace’s elegantly decorated halls.

European influences didn’t stop in the 16th century, though. Witness Segafredo, one of several outdoor cafés around Calle el Conde and where daybeds lining the interior are full with well-dressed revelers and hip lounge music sets the beat for the fast-moving waitstaff. In the few blocks between the Alcázar de Colón and a café with a live DJ, Old Europe becomes new – just like the city itself.

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Bridgetown	Santo Domingo	Willemstad	Gustavia

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