Santo Domingo: The First City in the New World (The History)

The Dominican Republic shares the Island of Hispaniola with the country of Haiti to the West.

Santo Domingo, capital city of the Dominican Republic, is the oldest continually inhabited European settlement in the Americas, having been founded in1498 by Bartholomew Columbus, brother of Christopher. The picture of the bust to the left is of Bartholomew and is located at the beginning of the wide, pedestrian only, street of El Conde. The city has a long and fascinating history, having been victimized by pirates, overrun by slaves, re-named by a dictator and more. It is a city where history comes to life! It is a city of 'firsts".

The Catedral Basilica Menor de Santa Maria: First cathedral in the New World. Diego, Christopher Columbus' son, set the first stone in the church in 1514.
Below is a view from the side entrance of the roof of the church. I must have been sitting in the Plaza for an hour, when I looked up and saw this cannonball up there. It looked stuck in the roof at first, but as you can see, it's just sitting on TOP of the roof and propped up by a few bricks. I quickly tried to assess where it might fall if it rolled off and thought moving to a different park bench a good idea. I was told later it was a shot fired from the boat of the notorious pirate Sir Frances Drake in 1586.

The Pantheon on Calle Las Damas is guarded day and night by the military. It houses the remains of the first teacher, the author of the first national anthem, the first bishop, the first mayor, and the first governor of the New World. The guards stand unmoving and motionless for two hours and then are relieved by another guard. Honestly, I thought this guy was a statue when I first entered the building.

First Fortress in the New World

First hospital in the New World

First University in the New World

First paved street in the new world: Calle Las Damas (Street of the Ladies). It was named in 1509 because of the number of women who would accompany Maria de Toledo, niece of the Spanish King Ferdinand and the wife of Diego Columbus, as she walked up it to church every Sunday morning from her home (picture below) known as the Alcazar de Colon or Castle of Columbus. The ladies close proximity to Maria reflected their standing in the social hierarchy. Diego built the castle right on the Ozama river and made the large, spacious, plaza in front so that all goods brought up the river to Santo Domingo could be displayed and viewed from the second story of his home.

You could spend weeks in Santo Domingo and still not have enough time to see everything in all the museums, historical buildings, and plazas. This is the place where the European invasion began. Cortez planned his invasion of Mexico from here. Sir Francis Drake, forcibly made the city his home for a few months and after looting and pillaging (he even stole the church bell some say), he was off in search of riches elsewhere, leaving the city in a smoldering ruin. The country endured the dictator and ruthless tyrant Rafael Trujillo for 31 years before he was assassinated in 1961. Civil wars and fights for independence from France, Spain, and Haiti, have all contributed to the rich history of this city and the country. It's not just a city of "firsts"....it's the oldest European city in the NEW WORLD! That's a lot of history!

Santo Domingo: First City in the New World (The People)

Although the history alone is fascinating in Santo Domingo, the people make strolling around town lots of fun too! There is much more to Santo Domingo than some really, really, old buildings. Look at the smiling faces! The boy on the right with the shoeshine kit called me over and asked me to look inside the cannon he was leaning on....so I did. There was a cannonball stuck in it about a third of the way down! The Dominican people of all ages are proud of their heritage and will happily share with you these little "secrets" that aren't in the guidebooks.

The gathering place for the locals is in La Plaza de Colon, adjacent to the cathedral. These guys in the picture above hang out there everyday...getting their shoes shined...I wasn't close enough to eavesdrop, but there was a tall tale being told. Just look at the expression on the face of the guy on the left!

There is almost a carnival air about town, especially when the kids have a break from school.
The mobile candy stores follow them around town.

The picture on the left is not of candy apples, but HUGE candy cherries. Yum! When this guy comes by with his tray, shopkeepers will leave their stores unattended to run out and grab one. They cost about 2 Dominican pesos..about a nickel !






















A favorite past time for the young and old alike is playing with and feeding the hundreds of pigeons that live in la Plaza de Colon. Couples in their wedding gowns and tuxedos pose for wedding photos in front of the church and at just the right moment, the photographer makes the birds fly with a stomp of his foot. I admit it was great fun to watch.

The kids below, mostly the boys, spent at least an hour one afternoon, probably side tracked on their way home after school, holding out food in the palms of their hands to the pigeons and when they were just close enough, they reached out and grabbed them! The handsome young man in the middle of the picture below offers a white bird out for me to hold.

Santo Domingo is a great people watching city! Peace out!

For My Friends With Paws

You may well wonder why I have chosen this particular subject to write about after having just returned from the Dominican Republic. The well treatment of the homeless animals where we travel has always been a major concern of mine, plus I contracted a serious illness my last week there and had a LOT of time to think about how the Dominican Republic and the people differed from other Latin American countries.... Oh, all right....who am I kidding? I'd like to pretend I was thinking of such philosophical things but, like I mentioned, I was really sick, full of strange medication, couldn't string words together to make a sentence, slept for sometimes 32 hours straight during which I would have the wildest, most vivid, dreams I have ever had....all about dogs! Big dogs, little dogs, spotted dogs, striped dogs, dogs playing the tuba in fields of daisys, my Aunt Vennies singing chihuahua, dogs wearing capes, talking dogs, (Gee, I thought they would never shut up!), dogs I knew, dogs I didn't , my first dog 'Dixie", and on and on... But they all seemed happy and content in my dreams. So, there. That's the real reason this post is about stray dogs. A message, if you will, from the deep recesses of a dog lovers delirious mind.

The Dominicanos treatment of the stray and homeless dogs that live among them IS a direct reflection of the Dominicanos gentle and compassionate nature. The dogs are allowed everywhere. Cab drivers sit on the curb and share their lunch with them. Waiters in restaurants never chase them away. They are never abused in any way. A tourist kicking a dog would result in some very angry words from the locals I'm sure. These strays behaved like none I've seen elsewhere. They don't fight each other, and they are comfortable and secure enough to fall asleep even on the wide pedestrian street of El Conde, in Santo Domingo. ( picture above)

"Animals are now more than ever a test of our character, of mankind's capacity for empathy and for decent, honorable conduct and faithful stewardship. We are called to treat them with kindness, not because they have rights or power or some claim to equality, but in a sense because they don't; because they all stand unequal and powerless before us." Matthew Scully - Dominion: The Power of Man, The Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy (suggested, yet disturbing, reading)

I'm almost jealous of this little guy below asleep under a coconut tree on the beautiful beach at Las Galeras.

Here's how you can help homeless animals a little here at home and it won't cost a thing! You may have seen an email going around letting people know about the Animal Rescue Site. Go to their website at www.theanimalrescuesite.com/ (First you have to give them a valid email address, which only takes a few seconds, and they do NOT send unsolicited emails to the address.) Then, book mark or put the site into your favorites, go there daily, click on the purple box and .6 bowls of food is donated to the shelter. It only takes a minute. I hope you'll make it a part of your day. Please tell everyone you know. If we all collectively click the purple box everyday, it will make a real difference! Some other sites you might like to look at are http://www.animalsvoice.com/ They have some spectacular photos! For the horse lovers Another Chance for Horses at http://www.ac4h.com/ and this great site for the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary http://www.inetdesign.com/candykitchen/ and www.bestfriends.org is a sanctuary for all animals!