The Past and the Future.
The Dominican Republic was discovered on December 5, 1492 by Christopher Columbus during his first voyage to the New World. In 1496 the city of Santo Domingo, the first in the New World, was founded. Much of its colonial heritage is preserved in the Colonial Zone, where 16th century cathedrals, palaces, dwellings and quaint cobblestone streets still thrive.
Restaurants, many open-air, serve fine cuisine and always the best weather.
Museums, artisan shops, and antique hotels and inns add to the charm and recall the 500-year history.
A stroll through the quiet streets and a peek into the courtyards is surprising and breathtaking.
The island of Hispaniola (as Columbus named it) was called Quisqueya ("the mother of all lands") by the 600,000 Taino Indians who occupied the land. The peaceful Tainos ("the good") were hospitable to Columbus and his crew of Spaniards. Columbus described the island as "a beautiful island paradise with high forested mountains and large river valleys."
His admiration for Hispaniola coupled with his crew's discovery of gold led to the establishment of European settlements, the first of which was founded in 1493 in La Isabela. The Taino Indians were put into slavery and over the next 25 years, were eventually wiped out.
Columbus' brother, Bartholomew, was appointed governor of Hispaniola and the capital city quickly became the representative seat of the Spanish royal court and, therefore, a city of much influence. By 1515 the gold deposits of Hispaniola had dwindled. When Herman Cortes discovered silver in Mexico, most of the Spanish residents left for Mexico.
In 1697 the western third of the island became a French possession. In 1804, it became the Republic of Haiti. This area, which the French called "Saint Domingue" became the richest colony in the world thanks to large sugar plantations which were worked by hundreds of thousands of slaves imported from Africa.
The Haitians invaded and controlled the island for a good portion of the first half of the century. However, the former Spanish ruling class developed an underground resistance group led by Juan Pablo Duarte.
On February 27, 1844, the eastern side of the island declared independence and gave their land the name "Dominican Republic."
The 70 years that followed were characterized by political unrest and civil war. Turmoil in the early 1900's led the US to intervene. In 1916 US troops occupied the country and stayed until 1924 when a democratically Dominican government was elected. However, the head of the army, Raphael Leonidas Trujillo, soon formed a repressive dictatorship that lasted until 1961 when his motorcade was ambushed and he was killed (the anniversary of his death is a public holiday).
The country went through a series of leaders until 1965 when Lyndon B. Johnson ordered the marines to again occupy the country.
Today's Leonel Fernandez is president for a second time and the DR is undergoing an economic resurgence.