The Zona Colonial

The Dominican Republic boasts Western hemisphere's oldest and most extensive European ruins from the era of conquistadors. The most impressive relics are contained withing Santo Domingo's Zona Colonial or "The Zone"

Contained within the Zone's old crumbling city walls are the hemisphere's first university, cathedral, monastery, hospital, nunnery and the 500-year old palace of the Columbus family.

Wandering past one jaw-dropping colonial relic after another can certainly transport you back to the time when Santo Domingo was one of the Spain's first tentative settlements in the Caribbean Sea, but the thousands of people who live and work in these colonial-era buildings make it more than just an outdoor museum.

During the old days men smoke cigars and argue politics in the park, sharp-dressed businessmen bustle to bank jobs, vendors sell split coconuts from horse-drawn carts.

At night the narrow streets are lined with outdoor cafés and restaurants, local families shoot the breeze(and pass the bottle) from front stoops, and the city's young and wealthy hit the neighbourhood clubs - among the hottest in the city.

It would be easy to get lost here for your entire stay, without missing the beach even once.

Central part of the Santo Domingo Colonial District is Parque Colón - a pleasant open space surrounded by beautiful colonial and Victorian buildings with a statue of Columbus in its center.

All pictures are made by All-Caribbean.com stuff photographers.

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