12 Sights in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (with Map and Images)

The Alcázar de Colón, or Columbus Alcazar is the first fortified European palace built in the Americas. It is located in the Dominican Republic's colonial area of Santo Domingo city, and forms part of the Ciudad Colonial UNESCO's World Heritage Site. It was built between 1510 and 1514 mostly in a Gothic and Renaissance style.

Wikipedia: Alcázar de Colón (EN)

The Casa del Cordón is a property located in the Colonial City of Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic. It is the oldest European stone house in the Americas and probably the first European two-story house. Its name is due to the chiseled sash-and-cord that it presents on its façade, which is associated with the Franciscan Order. It is located on Isabel la Católica street with the corner of Emiliano Tejera.

Wikipedia: Casa del Cordón, Santo Domingo (EN)

The Ozama Fortress, also formerly known as the city wall's Homage tower. It 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. It was built between 1502-1508 by the Spanish at the entrance to Santo Domingo's Ciudad Colonial, Dominican Republic, and overlooking the Ozama River. Named after this river, the castle, also referred to as "La Fortaleza" or "The Fortress". It was declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, together with the other historical monuments of the Ciudad Colonial.

Wikipedia: Fortaleza Ozama (EN)

The Hospital San Nicolás de Bari is a preserved hospital ruin, and it was recognized by UNESCO for being the oldest hospital built in the Americas. Construction began in 1503 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, at the behest of governor Nicolás de Ovando. This grand project was in keeping with the desire to emulate European princely courts, and looked to Renaissance Italy for inspiration. At the time of its completion, the wards could accommodate up to 70 patients, comparable to the most advanced churches of Rome. It is likely that the model for the Hospital de San Nicolás was the large Ospedale di Santo Spirito in Sassia in Rome. The complex forms part of the Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo World Heritage Site.

Wikipedia: Hospital San Nicolás de Bari (EN)

The National Museum of Natural History, Prof. Eugenio de Jesús Marcano Fondeur, is a museum located in the Plaza de la Cultura Juan Pablo Duarte in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, built by Dr. Joaquín Balaguer in 1974 and opened its doors to the public in 1982. The building consists of seven levels, four floors are rooms for exhibitions and three underground levels which is where the scientists work. It is a state institution created for the purpose of conserving the biodiversity of the Caribbean region and studying it. This museum has the largest scientific collection of fauna in the country with more than one hundred and thirty thousand specimens of vertebrates and invertebrates.

Wikipedia: Museo Nacional de Historia Natural Prof. Eugenio de Jesús Marcano (ES)

Eduardo Brito National Theater is part of the Plaza de la Cultura complex, located in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The theatre opened on August 16, 1973 and is the centerpiece of the complex. It is surrounded by several museums and cultural institutions. The complex is located on the Avenida Máximo Gomez, a central artery of the city of Santo Domingo. In 1977, it hosted the Miss Universe pageant. In 2006, the theatre was named after Eduardo Brito, a famous Dominican opera singer, by presidential decree.

Wikipedia: Eduardo Brito National Theater (EN)

The Dominican Man Museum is a museum located in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, which is constituted by different exhibition rooms, which as a whole has achieved the largest collection of objects and relics of the Taínos inhabitants at the Caribbean level, especially of The Spanish island. Located in the Plaza de la Cultura, it was founded on October 12, 1973 and designed by the architect José Antonio Caro Álvarez, during the government of Joaquín Balaguer.

Wikipedia: Museo del Hombre Dominicano (ES)

The Distrito Nacional is a subdivision of the Dominican Republic enclosing the capital Santo Domingo. It is not in any of the provinces, but in practice, it acts as a province on its own. Before October 16, 2001, the Distrito Nacional was much larger, including what is now known as Santo Domingo Province. Published statistics and maps generally show the former, larger, Distrito Nacional. The Distrito Nacional has no rural or underdeveloped areas.

Wikipedia: Distrito Nacional (EN)

The Memorial Museum of Dominican Resistance is a museum dedicated to the preservation of the history regarding the struggles of several generations of Dominicans during the dictatorship of Rafael L. Trujillo, including its background and its consequences. On July 31, 2009, the museum's collection was declared part of the Memory of the World Programme by UNESCO, in order to protect its preservation and facilitate its access through this program.

Wikipedia: Memorial Museum of Dominican Resistance (EN), Website

The Cathedral of Santa María la Menor in the Colonial City of Santo Domingo is dedicated to St. Mary of the Incarnation. It is the first and oldest cathedral in the Americas, begun in 1504 and was completed in 1550. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Santo Domingo who has the honorary title of Primate of the Indies because this cathedral was the first diocese and the oldest cathedral established in the New World.

Wikipedia: Cathedral of Santo Domingo (EN)

La Puerta del Conde was the main entrance to the fortified city of Santo Domingo, named to honor Governor Captain-General Bernardino de Meneses Bracamonte y Zapata, 1st Count of Peñalva, who during his tenure saved the city from a siege in 1655 by Englishmen General Robert Venables and Admiral William Penn amid the Third Anglo-Spanish War.

Wikipedia: Puerta del Conde (EN)

The Museo de las Casas Reales is one of the important cultural monuments built during the colonial era in Hispaniola, now the Dominican Republic. It is located in the Colonial district of Santo Domingo.

Wikipedia: Museo de las Casas Reales (EN)