Zona Colonial, in Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic, boasts a street billed as the first paved street in the Americas. It’s called “Calle Las Damas”. In the early 16th century, the ladies of the court of María de Toledo, wife of Diego Colón, used it to walk between the buildings of Spanish power, under the Caribbean sun. The street is still there. It borders the Ozama, the river that flows into the Caribbean Sea. And it provides access to the most densely populated “first-time” district in all of colonial America: the Zona Colonial.
A UNESCO-listed founding city
Zona Colonial, also known as Ciudad Colonial in the Dominican Republic, was designated aUNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990. Santo Domingo is considered to be the first permanent European city in the Americas. First established on the east bank of the Ozama in 1496, then founded as a colonial city in 1498 according to UNESCO, it was reorganized in 1502 on the west bank by Nicolás de Ovando. The city became the first lasting seat of Spanish power in the New World, and a major base for expansion towards the rest of the continent.
The cathedral that opened up the religious history of the Americas
The list of “firsts” remains impressive. The Catedral Primada de América, the first Catholic cathedral in the Americas, was built from 1514 onwards, its foundation stone attributed to Diego Colón, son of Christopher Columbus. The building was completed in the early 1540s, and elevated to the rank of metropolitan and primatial cathedral in 1546. Its limestone façade, vaulted interior and sober decor make it one of the great architectural landmarks of the 16th century in the Americas.
The Christopher Columbus debate continues
The cathedral is also linked to one of the best-known funerary debates in Atlantic history. Remains attributed to Christopher Columbus are said to have rested here before being transferred to Cuba and then Seville, while a lead box discovered in Santo Domingo in 1877 has fuelled the Dominican claim. DNA analysis has confirmed the authenticity of the remains preserved in Seville, although it does not completely rule out the possibility that other fragments may have remained in the Dominican Republic. The Zona Colonial is therefore not just an ancient setting: it is also the focus of many open historical questions.
A neighborhood of firsts and powers
Fortaleza Ozama, at the mouth of the eponymous river, is one of the oldest surviving colonial military structures in the Americas. It was built in the early 16th century, as part of Nicolás de Ovando’s organization of the city. The Casa del Cordón, built around 1503, is one of the first European stone houses in the New World. The Alcázar de Colón, a Gothic-Mudejar palace with Renaissance influences, was built between 1511 and 1514 for Diego Colón and his wife María de Toledo. As for the Dominican convent, it recalls the arrival of the first Dominican friars in Hispaniola in 1510, a religious milieu from which emerged the first major criticisms of colonial violence against indigenous peoples.
A historic center still inhabited
This Dominican singularity deserves to be named. The Zona Colonial is not just a concentration of ancient monuments. UNESCO also emphasizes its character as a living historic center, with social, religious, administrative and commercial functions still present. Cafés, schools, parishes, museums, housing, hotels, bookshops and nightlife rub shoulders. The district is not simply a scenography for visitors. It remains an inhabited space, frequented, traversed, sometimes contested, like all historic centers subject to tourist pressure.
Preserving without freezing
On the horizon, several challenges remain. Hurricane Beryl didn’t hit Santo Domingo with the violence suffered by Carriacou or Petite Martinique in 2024, but the southern Dominican coast did experience the effects of swell, rain and localized flooding. Gentrification, on the other hand, is transforming the social composition of neighborhoods more slowly, as in many historic centers classified as world heritage sites. Recent public programs are not limited to facades and monuments: they also include housing improvements, with the stated aim of keeping traditional residents in the historic center.
But the essential remains. When you walk along Calle Las Damas, you’re walking along one of the first legible European urban grids in the Americas. More than five centuries later, the street is still standing. In the Zona Colonial, the stone doesn’t just tell the story of the brutal beginning of a colonial order. It also forces us to look at what Caribbean societies have transformed, preserved, inhabited and passed on in spite of everything. Perhaps this is where the real question begins: how can we keep a heritage alive without freezing it?
The Zona Colonial is important because it corresponds to the historic core of Santo Domingo, one of the first permanent European urban centers in the Americas. Here you’ll find many of the founding sites of the continent’s colonial history, including the Calle Las Damas, the Catedral Primada de América, the Fortaleza Ozama and the Alcázar de Colón. This district provides an insight into how the first Spanish urban settlement in the Caribbean was organized, and how this heritage continues to be inhabited and passed on today.
Zona Colonial is located in Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic, near the Ozama River. The district is home to several major monuments linked to the early Spanish presence in the Americas. These include the Calle Las Damas, often referred to as the first paved street in the Americas, the Catedral Primada de América, the Fortaleza Ozama, the Casa del Cordón and the Alcázar de Colón. Its interest also stems from the fact that it’s not just a heritage area: the Zona Colonial remains a living district, with inhabitants, shops, cultural venues and daily life.
Calle Las Damas is one of the Zona Colonial’s most emblematic landmarks, because it is generally considered to be the first paved street in the Americas. Its name refers to the ladies of the court of María de Toledo, wife of Diego Colón, who would have walked along this street in the early 16th century. The street links several historic buildings of Spanish colonial power, and provides an insight into the urban structure of Santo Domingo as Spain organized its presence in the New World.
