The sights and sounds of Zona Colonial, Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo, the capital city of the Dominican Republic and home to the recent Centro Basket Tournament, is the oldest and continuously inhabited European settlement in the Americas.  In fact it was founded by Columbus in 1496 and became the first seat of Spanish colonial rule in the New World.  Channel Five’s William Neal and cameraman Alex Ellis were in the city for a week and took a tour of the sprawling city and learned more about its rich colonial history.

William Neal

“No trip to Santo Domingo is complete without a visit to Zona Colonial, considered the birth place of the Spanish civilization in the new world. It covers more than twelve blocks, boasts cobblestone streets and is home to some of the oldest buildings in the Caribbean.”

Nelson Pineles Mora, Tour Guide, Santo Domingo

nelson pineles mora

“It is one of the prime cities in the new world. Since 1492, Christopher Columbus ran into this island. He went by the north of the Island, Puerto Plata, La Isabela. In the second trip he came to Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo to the Zona Colonial. Besides that, it has become important because it is part of the movement for Dominican Republic, three hundred years old, five hundred years old. It’s the same as the cathedral, five hundred years old, built in 1511 up to 1523.”

“The Cathedral makes it special; the first capital building by Alexander Geraldine. Beside that it’s become important because it’s the oldest cathedral in the whole country, the whole island and most of the important people in the island have ceremonies inside. They have weddings, happy birthday, baptism. That’s why it’s become important because everybody wants to get married inside because it’s the oldest one in the whole island, you understand. Five hundred years old, this has become important cathedral. It becomes important, it becomes one of the most beautiful architectural monuments in the whole island. I’m talking about in the whole America, the first cathedral in the Americas.”

William Neal

“For a scenic view of the city, that’s Santo Domingo Viejo ih Nuevo, the perfect stop is at Fortaleza Ozama, built between 1500 and 1505. It allows you to have a panoramic view of the city that is breathtaking and also allows you to stop, perch and catch a breeze.”

William Neal

“Tell me a little bit about the fort.”

Nelson Pineles Mora

“The proposito [purpose] about this military fort is to protect this area, especially to protect the cathedral from the pirates that drift from England and the privateers who used to come often to this area to steal the gold and to steal the Indians from the island to bring them back to Europe and make them slaves, give them hard work there. So when they come back to us they tell us the good news and the bad news. Which one was the bad news? That they make them slaves out there so that’s why most of the Indians who live in the island hang themselves to prevent the slavery. That was one of the purposes why we built this military fort, to stop them from coming to the island to steal the gold and to stop the slavery. So we make it. We built it in 1505. We stop them to come to the island. They don’t come here no more thanks to the military fort Fortaleza Ozama. It’s an Indian word that means “Still Water in Deep River”.

“We call this area España Plaza beside Diego Columbus Palace, España plaza in honor of the Queen and King of Spain. And Diego Columbus Plaza because three generations of Columbus lived in the house; Bartolomѐ Columbus, the brother Christopher Columbus and the son Diego Columbus, the husband of Maria de Toledo. Three generations of Columbus family living in the house and the house was built in 1512.”

William Neal

“There’s a lot more to see in Zona Colonial in Santo Domingo. It’s a beautiful working history lesson and if you are willing to brave the heat, sweat in places that you never even knew existed, then of course you can spend all day exploring the twelve blocks. For News Five, I am William Neal from Santo Domingo.”

The population of Santo Domingo is two and a quarter million.