El Ensanchito

Santo Domingo (Spanish: [ˈsanto ðoˈmiŋɡo]) is a province of the Dominican Republic. It was split from the Distrito Nacional on October 16, 2001. Municipalities and municipal districts As of June 20, 2006, the province is divided into the following municipalities (municipios) and municipal districts (distrito municipal – D. M.) within them: • Boca Chica• La Caleta (D.M.) • Los Alcarrizos• Palmarejo-Villa Linda (D.M.) • Pantoja (D.M.) • Pedro Brand• La Cuaba (D.M.) • La Guáyiga (D.M.) • San An…

The Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple is the 99th operating temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It was the first temple to be built in the church's Caribbean area. Santo Domingo is the Dominican Republic's capital city. Founded in 1496, it is the oldest European settlement existing in the New World. In 1978 the Dominican Republic was opened to Mormon missionaries. By 1986, membership had grown to eleven thousand and in 1998, LDS Church membership reached…

Columbus Lighthouse (Spanish: Faro a Colón, meaning "Lighthouse to Columbus") is a mausoleum monument located in Santo Domingo Este, Dominican Republic, in tribute to Christopher Columbus. Construction began in 1986, using plans drawn in 1931 by Scottish architect J.L. Gleave. In time for the 500th anniversary of Columbus's first voyage, the monument was inaugurated in 1992. It was funded by the Latin American states and the total cost of construction was approximately US$70 million. The monumen…

The National Pantheon was built from 1714 to 1746 by the Spaniard Geronimo Quezada y Garçon and was originally a Jesuit church. The structure was constructed in the neoclassic-renaissance style. Today, the structure stands as a national symbol of the Dominican Republic and serves as the final resting place of the Republic's most honored citizens. History Jesuits held mass here until 1767. After 1767, it was used as a tobacco warehouse and then as the first Dominican theater for purely artistic p…

The Alcázar de Colón, or Columbus Alcazar is the first fortified European palace built in the Americas. It is located in the Dominican Republic's colonial area of Santo Domingo city, and forms part of the Ciudad Colonial UNESCO's World Heritage Site. It was built between 1510 and 1514 mostly in a Gothic and Renaissance style. It is the only known residence of a member of the Christopher Columbus family in the New World, his first-born son Diego Columbus, whose children Juana, Isabel, Luis and Ch…

Puente Juan Bosch is a relatively new bridge crossing the Ozama River in the city of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It is named after former president Juan Bosch.

The Museo de las Casas Reales (English: Museum of the Royal Houses) is one of the important cultural monuments built during the colonial era in Hispaniola, now the Dominican Republic. It is located in the Colonial district of Santo Domingo. It was the Palace of the Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo, called then Edificio de las Casas Reales, and it is the first (oldest) headquarters of Spanish power in the New World. The building dates back to the sixteenth century, and was built to house the admin…

La Puerta del Conde (The Count's Gate) was the main entrance to the fortified city of Santo Domingo (in present-day Dominican Republic), named to honor Governor Captain-General Bernardino de Meneses Bracamonte y Zapata, 1st Count of Peñalva, who during his tenure saved the city from a siege in 1655 by Englishmen General Robert Venables and Admiral William Penn amid the Third Anglo-Spanish War. The gate is part of a structure called El Baluarte del Conde (The Count's Bulwark), a fort in Ciudad Co…

Eduardo Brito National Theater (Spanish: Teatro Nacional Eduardo Brito) is part of the Plaza de la Cultura (Culture Plaza) complex, located in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The theatre opened on August 16, 1973 and is the centerpiece of the complex. It is surrounded by several museums and cultural institutions. The complex is located on the Avenida Máximo Gomez, a central artery of the city of Santo Domingo. In 1977, it hosted the Miss Universe pageant. In 2006, the theatre was named after …

The Distrito Nacional (Spanish: [disˈtɾito nasjoˈnal]; D.N.) is a subdivision of the Dominican Republic enclosing the capital Santo Domingo. It is not in any of the provinces, but in practice, it acts as a province on its own. Before October 16, 2001, the Distrito Nacional was much larger, including what is now known as Santo Domingo Province. Published statistics and maps generally show the former, larger, Distrito Nacional. The Distrito Nacional has no rural or underdeveloped areas. Points of…

Quisqueya Stadium Juan Marichal is a baseball stadium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It is often used as a multi-use stadium. Football club Atlético Pantoja used the venue for their inaugural Caribbean football championship match. The Quisqueya holds about 14,469 people after its renovation. The Dominican League of Baseball Authority is in charge of its management. It is the only stadium in the Caribbean region to host two different baseball teams, Tigres del Licey (Licey Tigers) and Leo…

Félix Sánchez Olympic Stadium (Spanish: Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez) is a multi-purpose stadium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, built in 1974 for the XII Central American & Caribbean Games. Overview It is used mostly for football and track and field and as a music venue. The stadium has a sporting events capacity of 27,000 people, though it has seen crowds of 35,000. For concerts, its stated capacity is 60,000 people. It hosted the Track and Field events and the football tournament at t…