Every Sunday night, the 16th-century ruins of the Monasterio de San Francisco come to life for a raging dance party. Beloved band Grupo Bonyé plays a mix of salsa, bachata (popular guitar music based on bolero rhythms), merengue and Caribbean rhythms, and hundreds of locals and tourists gather to drink and dance. The City Council has declared the event part of Santo Domingo’s 'artistic patrimony.'
Monastery Sundays
Santo Domingo
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.3 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…
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0.21 MILES
Designed in the Gothic-Mudéjar transitional style, this was the early-16th-century residence of Columbus’ son, Diego, and his wife, Doña María de Toledo…
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Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana
0.39 MILES
For those interested in the details of one of the darkest periods of Dominican history, this austere memorial honors Dominicans who fought against the…
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Reserva Antropológica Cuevas del Pomier
17.01 MILES
Visiting this reserve is like reading a history book written in stone. There are 57 limestone caves in the area 10km north of San Cristóbal, five of which…
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4.18 MILES
A long tree-filled corridor atop an enormous limestone ridge, this park is riddled with caves, some as big as airplane hangars. One of the caves has been…
0.34 MILES
This is the New World's oldest colonial military edifice. The site, at the meeting of the Río Ozama and Caribbean, was selected by Fray Nicolás de Ovando…
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Built in the Renaissance style during the 16th century, this building was the longtime seat of Spanish authority for the Caribbean region, housing the…
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16.17 MILES
San Cristóbal's strangest sight, currently used as the National Penitentiary School, was built on Trujillo’s orders for himself and his family in 1947 (at…
Nearby Santo Domingo attractions
1. Monasterio de San Francisco
The first monastery in the New World belonged to the first order of Franciscan friars who arrived to evangelize the island. Dating from 1508, the…
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This museum features an impressive collection of amber samples from around the world and excellent exhibits explaining (in Spanish and English) amber's…
0.09 MILES
The 1813 birthplace of Juan Pablo Duarte was converted into a modest museum and renovated in late 2016. Three rooms display documents, artifacts and…
0.1 MILES
Said to be not only one of the first European residences in the Americas, but also one of the first residences in the Western hemisphere with two floors,…
0.11 MILES
Housed in a restored 16th-century building, exhibits here celebrate rum and sugarcane, two of the country’s most important exports. Displays and…
0.16 MILES
The large open area in front of the Alcázar de Colón has been revamped many times, most recently during the 1990s in honor of the 500th anniversary of…
7. Ruinas del Hospital San Nicolás de Barí
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Standing next to the bright, white Iglesia de la Altagracia are the ruins of the New World’s first hospital. They remain as a monument to Governor Nicolás…
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This baroque church was built in 1574 to honor the patron saint of the military. After being done over by Drake, however, the church was rebuilt with…