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Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo de Guzmán, or just Santo Domingo, is the capital of the Dominican Republic and is its largest city. It is the oldest European city in the Americas where people have been living since it was founded at the end of the 15th century.

Capital city
Santo Domingo de Guzmán
Santo Domingo montage.JPG
Coat of arms of Santo Domingo
Coat of arms
 
Coordinates: 18°28′N 69°57′W / 18.467°N 69.950°W / 18.467; -69.950Coordinates: 18°28′N 69°57′W / 18.467°N 69.950°W / 18.467; -69.950
Country Dominican Republic
ProvinceNational District
Founded5 August 1496 (528 years ago)
FounderBartholomew Columbus
Named forSaint Dominic
Government
 • MayorCarolina Mejía
Area
[2]
 • Total104.44 km2 (40.32 sq mi)
 • Metro
2,696.69 km2 (1,041.20 sq mi)
Elevation
[3]
14 m (46 ft)
Population
 (December 2010)
 • Total965,040[1]
 • Metro
2,908,607[4]
Time zoneAST (UTC -4)
Postal codes
10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional)
WebsiteAyuntamiento del Distrito Nacional
Official nameColonial City of Santo Domingo
TypeCultural
Criteriaii, iv, vi
Designated1990 (14th session)
Reference no.526
State PartyDominican Republic
RegionLatin America and the Caribbean

Geography

The city is at the mouth of the Ozama River, on the Caribbean coast. The city has the Santo Domingo province to the east, north and west. To the south is the Caribbean Sea.

The eastern limit of the city is the Ozama River and the northern limit is the Isabela River, a tributary of the Ozama. The western limit is a long street, Gregorio Luperón Avenue.

The average temperature (25.7 °C) varies little in the city. December and January are the coolest months and July and August are the warmest. Some years, hurricanes affect the city because it is in the Caribbean where hurricanes are common from June to November.

Population

In 2010, the municipality had a total population of 965,040: 460,903 men and 504,137 women. The urban population was 100% of the total population.[5]

Santo domingo has a very diverse population, but it is mainly composed of mulattoes, whites and blacks.

History

The city was first founded on the east side of River Ozama by Bartholomew Columbus, brother of Christopher, with the name of La Nueva Isabela (The New Isabela); La Isabela was a town founded on the northern coast of the island by Christopher Columbus. The name was soon changed to Santo Domingo.

After a hurricane in 1502 destroyed the city, the new governor of the island Nicolás de Ovando built it again but on the west side of the river and with the new name of Santo Domingo.[6]

Santo Domingo was the first capital of the Spanish colonies in the Américas. It became the starting point of most of the Spanish expeditions of exploration and conquest of the other Caribbean islands and the adjacent lands in the continent.[7] There are still many buildings from that time (16th century) and part of the old walls.

In 1930, the city of Santo Domingo was almost completely destroyed by a hurricane called San Zenón. Rafael Trujillo rebuilt the city and named it Ciudad Trujillo after himself. After his assassination in 1961, Ciudad Trujillo became again Santo Domingo. The 1966 constitution named the city Santo Domingo de Guzmán.

In 2001, the Santo Domingo Province was created with much of the area of the old Distrito Nacional ("National District"). With that division, many parts of the old city are now part of the Santo Domingo Province and not of the city of Santo Domingo de Guzmán. But they are still part of the metropolitan area of the city (the Greater Santo Domingo). The people that live in this Greater Santo Domingo are capitaleños (women are capitaleñas), even if they do not live in the National District.

Places of interest

Zona Colonial

 
Catedral Santa María, first cathedral in the Americas.

The old section of the city is known as Zona Colonial ("Colonial Zone") or Ciudad Colonial ("Colonial City"). The Colonial Zone, bordered by the Ozama River, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1990. Some of the old buildings in this zone are

  • Cathedral of Saint Mary, the first cathedral in America.
  • Alcázar de Colón ("Diego Columbus' Palace") where Diego Columbus, son of Christopher, lived when he was governor of the Spanish colony.
  • Monasterio de San Francisco ("St. Francis Monastery"), an church and place where monks lived (monastery); now is partially destroyed.
  • Hospital de San Nicolás de Bari ("St. Nicholas of Bari Hospital"), the first hospital in the Americas; now is partially destroyed.
  • Palacio del Gobernador y de la Audiencia ("Palace of the Governor and the Court"); now is a museum, Museo de las Casas Reales ("Museum of the Royal Houses").
  • Fortaleza Ozama ("Ozama Fortress"), the oldest fort in America.

Museums

Santo Domingo has several museums, many of them in the Zona Colonial.

  • Alcázar de Colón ("Diego Columbus' Palace")
  • Naval Museum of the Atarazanas
  • Museum of the Casas Reales (colonial period)
  • Museum of Duarte
  • National Museum of Natural History
  • Museum of the Dominican Man
  • World of Amber Museum
  • Modern Art Gallery
  • National Museum of History and Geography

Parks and recreational areas

 
Columbus Park

Santo Domingo has various parks as the National Botanical Garden, the National Zoo and the Mirador Sur Park.

There are also many small squares as the Parque Colón ("Columbus Park"), in the Zonal Colonial and on the northern side of the cathedral; and the Parque Independencia ("Independence Park"), just outside of the old western wall and where the Founding Fathers of the country (Juan Pablo Duarte, Francisco del Rosario Sánchez and Matías Ramón Mella) are buried.

Education

There are eighteen universities in Santo Domingo. Established in 1538, Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD) was the first university founded in the continent; it is also the only public university in the country and has campuses all over the country.

Sports

Santo Domingo is home to the Leones del Escogido and Tigres del Licey baseball clubs of the Dominican Winter League. Estadio Quisqueya is the home stadium for both teams. Centro Olimpico Juan Pablo Duarte is the central sports complex of the city, at the center of the city.

Photo gallery

  • Plaza de España in Zona Colonial

  • Plaza de España, Santo Domingo

  • Plaza de España, Santo Domingo

  • Cannon on Coast, Santo Domingo

Sister cities

Santo Domingo has sister relationships with many cities worldwide:

Santo Domingo Media

  • Tomb that housed the remains of Christopher Columbus until 1795 (at the cathedral).

  • The Ozama Fortress is one of the surviving sections of the Walls of Santo Domingo, which is recognized by UNESCO as being the oldest military construction of European origin in the Americas.

  • French and British ships in the battle of Santo Domingo, 1806.

  • Destruction of Santo Domingo after the hurricane

  • View of Santo Domingo from space, 2010.

  • Columbus Park Dominican Republic

  • Neighborhoods of Santo Domingo.

  • The National Palace, in Santo Domingo

  • Reserve Bank of the Dominican Republic (BanReservas) in Santo Domingo.

  • The Palace of the Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo was the first (oldest) headquarters of Spanish power in the New World. Now houses the Museo de las Casas Reales

References

  1. ↑ IX Census
  2. ↑ (in Spanish) Superficies a nivel de municipios, Oficina Nacional de Estadística Archived 17 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ De la Fuente, Santiago (1976). Geografía Dominicana (in español). Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: Editora Colegial Quisqueyana.
  4. ↑ Expansión Urbana de las ciudades capitales de RD: 1988-2010 (in español). Santo Domingo: Oficina Nacional de Estadística. 1 May 2015. ISBN 978-9945-8984-3-9. Archived from the original on 14 July 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  5. ↑ Oficina Nacional de Estadística. "IX Censo Nacional de Población y Vivienda. Informe Básico" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 January 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  6. ↑ Meinig, D.W. (1986). The Shaping of America: a Geographic Perspective on 500 Years of History. Volume I - Atlantic America, 1492-1800. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-03882-8.
  7. ↑ "Santo Domingo". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 20 February 2008.


Provincial capitals of the Dominican Republic  
Azua • Baní • Barahona • Bonao • Comendador • Cotuí • Dajabón • El Seibo • Hato Mayor • Higüey • Jimaní • La Romana • La Vega • Mao • Moca • Monte Cristi • Monte Plata • Nagua • Neiba • Pedernales • Puerto Plata • Sabaneta • Salcedo • Samaná • San Cristóbal • San Francisco de Macorís • San José de Ocoa • San Juan de la Maguana • San Pedro de Macorís • Santiago de los Caballeros • Santo Domingo • Santo Domingo Este
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