Culture and history in the Dominican Republic
Explore colonial landmarks, a national shrine, a historic fortress and places where Dominican traditions and Taíno art remain visible.
Santo Domingo’s Colonial City brings together early colonial landmarks and a lived-in neighbourhood of plazas and museums. Beyond the capital, a hilltop village, a national shrine and a harbour fortress offer different ways to encounter the country’s history and culture.
Alcázar de Colón
Things to do, Distrito Nacional
Diego Columbus’s early-1500s palace overlooks Plaza de España. Its museum occupies former viceregal rooms and displays period furniture, tapestries and colonial art.
Altos de Chavón
Things to do, La Romana
Cobbled lanes pass artisan studios, a design school, an archaeological museum and the stone church of St. Stanislaus in this recreation of a 16th-century Mediterranean village.
Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia
Things to do, La Altagracia
This modernist basilica in Higüey holds the venerated image of the Virgin of Altagracia. Pilgrims gather here each January 21 for her feast.
Ciudad Colonial de Santo Domingo
Things to do, Distrito Nacional
The Colonial City’s shaded streets and plazas weave past the hemisphere’s first cathedral, early hospital ruins and Calle de las Damas, the oldest paved street in the New World.
El Conuco
Food & Drink, Distrito Nacional
Live merengue and folk dancing accompany Dominican dishes at this Gazcue restaurant, which is styled after a countryside conuco.
Fortaleza San Felipe
Things to do, Puerto Plata
This 16th-century Spanish fortress guarded Puerto Plata’s harbour and later served as a prison. Its museum holds cannons and colonial artifacts.
Los Haitises National Park
Parks & Nature, Samaná
Boat tours through mangrove channels stop at caves where Taíno petroglyphs and pictographs remain visible, bringing cultural heritage together with the park’s protected landscape.