Santo Domingo

We will start in the bustling capital Santo Domingo in the south with dance and musicality classes, guided tour in la Zona Colonial, a trip with catamaran to nearby Isla Saona, local parties and more.

Santo Domingo, officially Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and the largest city in the Dominican Republic as well as the largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. Prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, the native Taíno people populated the island which they called Quisqueya (mother of all lands) and Ayiti (the land of the high mountains), and which Columbus later named Hispaniola, including the territory of today's Republic of Haiti. The city of Santo Domingo was founded by his younger brother, Bartholomew Columbus, in 1496, which makes the city the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the Americas, and was the first seat of the Spanish colonial rule in the New World.

Santo Domingo is the site of the first university, cathedral, castle, monastery, and fortress in the New World. The city's Colonial Zone was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Santo Domingo was called Ciudad Trujillo from 1936 to 1961, after the Dominican Republic's dictator, Rafael Trujillo, named the capital after himself. Following his assassination, the city resumed its original designation.

Santo Domingo is the cultural, financial, political, commercial and industrial center of the Dominican Republic, with the country's most important industries being located within the city. Santo Domingo also serves as the chief seaport of the country. The city's harbor at the mouth of the Ozama River accommodates the largest vessels, and the port handles both heavy passenger and freight traffic. Temperatures are high year round, with cooler breezes in the winter time.

Hotel in Santo Domingo: Gran Hotel Europa