25 January 2007

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo was founded by the Spanish in 1498



The first Cathedral in the Americas, the imaginatively named Catedral Primada de América



The ruins of the oldest monastery in the Americas



The ruins of the first hospital in the Americas



Canons in the Fortaleza Ozama, the oldest surviving European fortress in the New World



Tamarind trees in the fortress (When I wrote this I had never seen a Tamarind tree or seed pod, only Tamarind flavored products. I would go on to learn a lot more about Tamarind and on a visit to St Kitts a year later I found out that this is actually called a Flamboyant tree.)



Alcázar de Colón the home of Christopher Columbus' son Diego



While I was wandering around I came across a ceremony to bring this icon of the Virgin Mary from one church to another



Iglesia de la Regina Angelorum






On this trip I found three of the best fruit spreads ever