Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: In Columbus’ Wake

“In fourteen hundred and ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”

Like most American school kids, I recited that little rhyme when I was maybe 7 or 8. But strangely, I don’t recall learning much more about Christopher Columbus in those grade school days. Of course, we were taught to believe that Columbus “discovered” the Americas, as if they had not existed before with their own advanced civilizations and cultures. And we knew the names of his ships, the Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria. But there’s so much more to the Columbus story than his “discovery.”

Sponsored by the Spanish Catholic monarchy, Columbus was searching for a trade route from Europe to Asia. He never made it that far, but he did complete four round-trip voyages from Spain to the Americas between 1492 and 1504. For better or worse, those voyages opened up the Americas to European exploration and colonization. And also exploitation and disease, which almost completely wiped out the local indigenous population.

We learned a lot more about this legendary mariner and the Dominican Republic on our recent visit to Santo Domingo, the sprawling capital city. Here’s everything that impressed us about Santo Domingo.

COLUMBUS AND SANTO DOMINGO FACTOIDS

The Bahamas were Columbus’ first stop. After a two-month transatlantic crossing, the Columbus expedition made its first landfall on an island that is today part of the Bahamas group. Supposedly this was the first known European contact with the Americas, although there’s solid evidence that the Vikings settled in present-day Newfoundland at least five centuries before. (In fact, Columbus never actually set foot in North America.) From there, it was a short hop to the island now known as Cuba.

Haiti and the Dominican Republic were next. After Cuba, the expedition headed southeast to the island they dubbed Hispañola – today’s Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Upon making landfall in present-day Haiti, Columbus lost his flagship, the Santa Maria, when it went aground and sank on Christmas Day, 1492. Using timbers from the Santa Maria, the expedition founded Puerto La Navidad (Christmas Port), purportedly the first European settlement in the New World.

By all accounts, Columbus was a real bastard. Particularly to the Taíno indigenous populations he encountered, whom he dubbed “Los Indios.” As a colonial governor, he and his men enslaved many natives, including children, and many others were beaten, raped, and tortured. His atrocities against the Taíno and colonists alike were so brutal that his own government removed him from his post and jailed him for a time in the imposing Fortaleza Ozama before deporting him back to Spain for trial.

Santo Domingo was founded by Christopher’s brother, Bartholomew Columbus, in 1496. Bartholomew was also jailed with Columbus in the fortaleza and later tried in Spain (both were acquitted).

Thanks to the Columbus brothers, Santo Domingo boasts many “firsts.” It’s often called the First City of the Americas, due to its status as the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the Western Hemisphere. It’s home to the Americas’ oldest university, the still-operating Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, founded in 1538. The Santo Domingo Cathedral was America’s first, completed in 1540. The Fortaleza Ozama is the oldest surviving European fortress in the Americas. And Santo Domingo is also the site of the first hospital, first customs house, and first monastery on this side of the world.

SANTO DOMINGO HISTORIC DISTRICT

Although Santo Domingo at large is an unremarkable city, the historic district (Ciudad Colonial or Colonial City) is gorgeous. A UNESCO World Heritage site, Ciudad Colonial boasts many beautifully preserved buildings from the time of the Columbus brothers as well as subsequent centuries.

THE FORTALEZA OZAMA

Completed in 1508 by Nicolás Ovando, the first governor of Hispañola, the Fortaleza overlooks the Ozama River. Like the other colonial-era buildings in Santo Domingo, the fort was constructed of coral rock by enslaved African and Taíno people. Over the ensuing five centuries, the fort chalked up a colorful history. Not only were the Columbus brothers imprisoned there, but Christopher lived there for a time as viceroy. The fort was captured by Sir Francis Drake in 1586 and was a pirate stronghold for many years. Used as a prison until the 1960s, the Fortaleza hosted a long parade of pirates, politicians, and other n’er do wells. Most recently (and infamously), the fort was used during the 31-year-long dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo for the detention and torture of political prisoners. In 1965, the prison was decommissioned and the fort converted into a museum.

THE SANTO DOMINGO CATHEDRAL

Officially known as La Catedral de Santa Maria la Menor, the Cathedral of Santo Domingo is a masterpiece of gothic architecture. It’s also the oldest EXISTING Catholic cathedral in the “New World.” (Another fun fact: the oldest cathedral, now in ruins, is the Garðar Cathedral in Greenland – founded in 1126!) Santo Domingo’s cathedral is huge, imposing, and a little austere compared to some of the gold-encrusted colonial churches we’ve seen in South America. It was the first resting place for Columbus’ remains before they were sent to the Cathedral in Seville, Spain.

Ladies, take note: Be sure and wear a skirt or pants that cover your knees! I thought I’d be fine with my almost-knee-length skort. But no, before I knew what was happening, an attendant was tying a lovely tablecloth around my waist. I had to laugh – there were plenty of men in there wearing shorts, with knees for all to see! Whatever . . .

THREE VISIT-WORTHY MUSEUMS

The Taíno Cultural Center in the Casa de Cordón
This well-done museum has a vast collection of artifacts from the heyday of the Taíno, the indigenous culture that occupied a large swath of Caribbean islands until Columbus and his cohort showed up. Hispañola had the highest population of Taíno, by some estimates close to half a million, before they were decimated by European diseases, slavery, and torture at the hands of the conquistadores. It only took about 30 years after the arrival of the Europeans for an estimated 80% to 90% of the Taíno population to disappear.

The Taíno collection is beautifully displayed in the Casa de Cordón, one of the first stone houses built in the Americas. Begun in 1503, the house was occupied by contemporaries of Columbus and other important figures from the colonial era. The cordón (rope or ornamental cord) design on the front entrance is a motif associated with the Catholic Franciscan order and is also common on many 15th-century buildings in Spain.

The Atarazanas Reales (Royal Shipyards) Museum
This fascinating museum is in a colonial building that at various times housed shipyards, warehouses, the customs house and the tax office of the port of Santo Domingo. Begun in 1509, the Atarazanas is the oldest building of its type still standing in the Americas. The building underwent an extensive restoration in 2018 and reopened as a museum, with a huge collection of artifacts from underwater archaeology, colonial shipwrecks around Hispañola, and the naval history of the Dominican Republic.

El Faro A Colón (The Lighthouse of Columbus)
More national monument than museum, the Lighthouse of Colombus is an enormous concrete structure completed in 1992, just in time for the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival in the Americas. To mark that occasion, Pope John Paul visited El Faro in Oct. 1992 (the popemobile in which he rode is displayed on the grounds of the monument).

Said to represent the “Christianization of the Americas,” the building is shaped like a giant cross (when looked down on from above) and projects a cross-shaped beam of light into the night sky that can be seen from at least 60 kilometers away. Inside are exhibits from every country Columbus visited, as well as the elaborate tomb (near the beginning of this post) that supposedly contains his remains. And, if we’re being honest, it’s one of the ugliest national monuments we’ve ever seen! But it’s also fascinating and well worth a visit.

Parque Nacional Las Tres Ojos (The Three Eyes)

Not far from the Faro A Colón, at the other end of Parque del Este, you’ll find Los Tres Ojos National Park. A refreshing dose of nature in the heart of a big, bustling city, the parque was one of our favorite experiences in Santo Domingo.

The National Park encompasses a huge, open-air limestone cave system, with three breathtaking, crystal-clear subterranean lakes (The Tres Ojos). A fourth lake, Los Zaramagullones (named for the water birds that hang out there) is open-air but just as beautiful. The park is nicely developed, with paved stairways and walkways leading down and into the edge of each lake.

THE BUTTERFLIES: ANOTHER CAUTIONARY DICTATORSHIP TALE

Now that our birth country is spinning into chaos and a fascist dictatorship is looming, it’s a bit uncanny that we keep encountering and learning about authoritarian regimes in other countries.

While in Santo Domingo,  I was paging through one of those free tourist magazines and came across an article about the Mirabal sisters – Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa. These three women were on the front lines of an opposition movement to overthrow the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo in the late 1950s. Las Mariposas (the Butterflies), as they were known in the revolutionary group they founded, were tragically assassinated by Trujillo’s thugs on Nov. 25, 1960.

In the Dominican Republic, Trujillo held power for 31 brutal years before he was assassinated in 1961 – only a year after the Mirabal sisters. During that time, he was responsible for the murder or disappearance of almost 6,000 Dominicans, an astonishing figure. Many more were tortured, using methods too horrifying to describe here.

One particularly heinous act occurred early in Trujillo’s regime, when up to 40,000 (!) Haitian immigrants were murdered because they were supposedly occupying illegal settlements along the DR’s frontier with Haiti. This especially gave me pause, given the current anti-immigrant administration (if you can call it that) in the U.S. If citizens or LEGAL immigrants can be deported or sent to foreign jails, what’s coming next?

I discovered the book “In the Time of the Butterflies” while musing about the Mirabal sisters after we returned home. Authored by Julia Alvarez, it’s an account of the sisters’ young adulthood, joining of the resistance against Trujillo, imprisonment, and assassination. Although much of the Mirabals’ story is fictionalized, the book is factual about the times and events of the Trujillo dictatorship. It’s a sad book, but also hopeful somehow: Dictatorships exact a terrible price, but most of them fizzle out sooner or later.

OTHER SANTO DOMINGO TIPS

Getting Around: Uber is very dependable in Santo Domingo, but expect traffic to be fierce at just about any hour of the day. Also, the city is doing a huge street/sewer renovation project in the historic district that has closed several streets, making navigation by car difficult. Your best bet is to stay in or near the historic district and walk as much as you can. Santo Domingo does have a metro system, but we never got to try it.

Food and Beverage: We had a lovely Italian lunch, with great food and service, at Ristorante Angelo in the restaurant row along Plaza de la Hispanidad. We also enjoyed our dinner at El Búho Eatery, and also Zola in the brand-new and beautiful Kimpton Las Mercedes hotel. If you’re craving sweets or ice cream, check out Helados Valentino. For coffee, we enjoyed Casa Barista and Granier.

Our Lodging: We really enjoyed our stay at the Hotel Villa Colonial on the edge of the Ciudad Colonial. In contrast to the huge re-paving project going on just outside, the hotel was a quiet and peaceful refuge in a beautifully restored 1920s building. And the included multi-course breakfast was fantastic!

The official visitor site for the Dominican Republic is a great resource!

Coming Up: The DR’s Spectacular Northern Coast

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