Centro Cultural Español

Santo Domingo


A lively cultural space run by the Spanish embassy, this institute regularly hosts art exhibits, film festivals and musical concerts, all with a Spanish bent; most on weekends. It also has 15,000 items in its lending library.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Santo Domingo attractions

1. Convento de los Dominicos

0.1 MILES

Built in 1510 by Charles V, this is the first convent of the Dominican order founded in the Americas. It's also where Father Bartolomé de las Casas – the…

2. Museo Casa de Tostado

0.1 MILES

This museum is located in the Casa de Tostado – the beautifully restored, 16th-century home of writer Francisco Tostado. It's interesting as much for the…

3. Capilla de la Tercera Orden Dominica

0.13 MILES

Built in 1729 and the only colonial structure in Santo Domingo that remains fully intact. These days the building is used by the office of the archbishop…

4. Quinta Dominica

0.13 MILES

This small art gallery, in a renovated 16th-century home, features ever-changing exhibits of colonial and contemporary art. A shady courtyard at the back…

5. Iglesia de Santa Clara

0.14 MILES

Home to the first nunnery in the New World, built in 1552. Years after being sacked by Drake and his men (who apparently hated all things Catholic), it…

6. Larimar Museum

0.15 MILES

Thorough exhibits on larimar – a rare, light-blue mineral found only in the remote southwestern mountains of the Dominican Republic – have signage in…

7. Catedral Primada de América

0.17 MILES

The first stone of this cathedral, the oldest standing in the Western hemisphere, was set in 1514 by Diego Columbus, son of the great explorer (the ashes…

8. Iglesia de la Regina Angelorum

0.19 MILES

Paid for by a woman who donated her entire fortune to construct this monument for the cloistered Dominican Sisters, this church was built toward the end…