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Looks like heaven
Travel Vacations Destinations
Caribbean
Santo Domingo
Formally Santo Domingo de Guzman, the capital of the Dominican Republic, sits where the Ozama River meets the Caribbean Sea. It is the oldest European colonial city in the Americas, officially founded in 1498. The original settlement was damaged in a hurricane only a few years later, echoed by another that destroyed large swathes of the greater city in 1930. The area now known as the Colonial Zone (Zona Colonial) largely escaped the destruction and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990.
The most important buildings to survive include the Panteon Nacional, the Cathedral (the Catedral Primada de America), the Alcazar de Colon, the first monastery and convent in the Americas, the Governor General's Palace (now the Museo de las Casas Reales), the Fortaleza Ozama and the historic square of the Parque Colon. Together the late Medieval buildings make a perfect collection and one of the best cityscapes you could wish to find, in a maze of cobbled streets.
A more recent architectural addition is the Faro a Colon, a lighthouse built to commemorate the five hundredth anniversary of Columbus' discovery of the Americas.
Behind the sea wall (the Malecon) is another favourite destination here, a long park that runs along the coast. Other highlights are the Museum of Modern Art, the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Museum of Dominican Man and the Museum of Duarte. Art lovers should head for the Boulevard 27 de Febrero for the public displays of art.
Santo Domingo is, of course, also famous for its beautiful sandy beaches and amazing nightlife.
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