Santo Domingo (officially called Santo Domingo de Guzmán) is a municipality, city and capital of the Dominican Republic. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River, on the south coast of the island 155 km southeast of Santiago de los Caballeros. Founded by Bartolomé Colón on August 5, 1498.4 on the eastern bank of the Ozama River and then transferred by Nicolás de Ovando in 1502 to the western bank of the same river. Known for being the place of the first permanent European settlement in America, and for being the first seat of the Spanish colonial government in the New World. It is within the limits of the National District, and the latter in turn is bordered by three parts by the province of Santo Domingo. It borders to the south with the Caribbean Sea, to the east with the municipality Santo Domingo Este, to the west with Santo Domingo Oeste and to the north with Santo Domingo Norte; together they form the Great Santo Domingo whose metropolitan area already exceeds 4 million inhabitants.
The city was elected American Capital of Culture in 2010, it has also hosted the 2003 Pan American Games, the 1974 Central American and Caribbean Games and the Caribbean series on several occasions.
In Santo Domingo there are the first cathedral and the first castle of America; both located in the Colonial City, an area declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Thanks to this, the city, especially its Historic Center, receives approximately one million international visitors each year.
Colonial Zone- Santo Domingo
The Colonial City is exactly the place where the history of the New World began.
