The oldest continuously inhabited European city in the Americas — where the first cathedral, first university, first stone fortress and first paved street in the entire New World were all built within 50 years of Columbus's 1492 arrival, where Diego Columbus governed the Spanish Caribbean Empire from a palace that still stands above the Ozama River, and where the merengue music was invented and the bachata was born in rural heartbreak before both conquered Latin dance floors worldwide.
The First Cathedral Built in the Americas Where Disputed Columbus Remains Lay for 450 Years & The First Paved Street in the New World Named for the Noble Ladies Who Promenaded on It in 1520
The Three-Cave Underground Lake System Where Visitors Cross Between Caverns by Rowing Boat & The Seafront Promenade Where Sunday Traffic Stops and Two Million People Come for the Annual Merengue Festival
The Island Where Columbus Landed in 1494 with a Natural Starfish Sandbar in the Surrounding Caribbean Shallows & The Amber from Dominican Mountains with the Finest Biological Inclusions of Any Amber on Earth