HOW TO GET THERE It counts on an excellent seaport accessible to most freighters and passenger vessels and providing maritime communication with all major cities in North and South America. It's also blessed with an airport and serves as a crossroad to the country's state-of-the-art highway network.

Weather Tropical weather with an average temperature of 27 degrees Celsius.

Economy This tourist, financial and administrative hub develops an industrial activity based on the manufacture of textiles, cement and beverages. It also serves as a springboard for the export of sugar, beef and other local productions.

WHAT TO SEE In the colonial zone: Las Damas Street, a must-see avenue. España Square, featuring the astonishing Alcazar de Colon Palace, the Royal Houses (at the end of the Las Damas Street); The Homage Tower to the Ozama Fortress, America's only medieval tower. The National Pantheon or Monastery of the Jesuit Fathers, now turned into a mausoleum; the Santo Domingo Cathedral, the very first in the Americas; the Cordon House (today housing the headquarters of the Santo Domingo People's Bank; the Casa del Tapado (on the corner of March 19 Street and Padre Billini); the Money House (hosting the Numismatic Museum); Case de Tostado (on the corner of Padre Billini and Arzobispo Meriño (currently housing the Museum of the Dominican Family. Other sightseeing spots in the colonial part of town are the Gateways of the Old Walls; such colonial plazas as Plaza Mayor, Colon Park and Maria de Toledo; the Conception Fort and the San Gil Fort or the Abattoir Fortress. The area surrounding the Modelo Marketplace packs a wallop of its own. The so-called Malecon area includes such attractions as the Seaquarium (down España Avenue right in the outskirts of the city) and the Colon Lighthouse where –as the legend goes- Christopher Columbus' remains are buried. Other must-sees are Conde Street, a commercial walkway, and the Cultural Square where featuring the museums of the Dominican Man (anthropology and ethnology), of Modern Art, of History and Geography and of Natural History.

WHERE TO STAY Plaza Colonial Apartments & Hotel. Luisa Osema Pellerano on the corner of Julio Verne, Gazcue; phone: (809) 687-9111; fax: (809) 686-2877; e-mail: p.bonilla@codetel.net.do, p.bonilla@tricom.net. Barceló Gran Hotel Lina Spa & Casino. Maximo Gomez Ave. on the corner of 27 de Febrero; phone: (809) 563-5000; fax: (809) 686-5521; e-mail: h.lina@codetel.net.do. Hispaniola Hotel & Casino. Independencia Ave. on the corner of Abraham Lincoln; phone: (809) 221-1511; fax: (809) 533-8898 / 535-4050; e-mail: res@pwmonline.com. Meliá Santo Domingo Hotel & Casino. 365 George Washington Ave.; phone: (809) 221-6666; fax: (809) 687-8150; e-mail: meliasdb@codetel.net.do. Mercure Hotel Comercial. El Conde Ave. on the corner of Hostos, Colonial City. phone: (809) 688-5500; fax: (809) 688-5522; e-mail: H2974@accor-hotels.com. Occidental Embajador. 65 Sarasota Ave., Bella Vista; phone: (809) 2212131; fax: (809) 532-5306; e-mail: ohrd.embajador@codetel.net.do. Renaissance Jaragua Hotel & Casino. George Washington Ave.; phone: (809) 221-2222; fax: (809) 686-0528; e-mail: jaragua.ventas@codetel.net.do. Santo Domingo Hotel. George Washington Ave. on the corner of Ave. Abraham Lincoln; phone: (809) 221-1511; fax: (809) 533-8898; e-mail: hotel.stodgo@codetel.net.do. Sofitel Frances Hotel. Las Mercedes St. on the corner of Arzobispo Meriño; phone: (809) 685-9331; fax: (809) 685-1289.

WHERE TO EAT Dominican food: Buen Provecho. 59-A Gustavo Mejia Ricart; phone: (809)562-4848. El Chef. Gustavo Mejia Ricart & Agustin Lara; phone: (809)562-4658. El Conuco. 152 Casimiro de Moya, Gazcue; phone: 221-3231. Spanish food: Boga-Boga. Plaza Florida, Armando Rodriguez on the corner of Bolivar; phone: 541-4150. Cantabrico. 54 Independencia Ave.; phone: (809)687-5101. Don Pepe. Pasteur St. on the corner of Santiago; phone: 686-8481. Meson de Castile. 8 Dr. Baez St.; phone: 688-4319. Rio Miño. Gardens of the Embajador Hotel; phone: (809)534-5873. Palacio de Jade. 6 Jose Ma. Heredia St., Gazcue; phone: 686-3226. Italian food: Cappuccino. 60 Maximo Gomez Ave.; phone: (809)689-8600. Fellini. 504 Roberto Pastoriza; phone: (809)540-5330. Pappalapasta. 23 Dr. Baez St., Gazcue; phone: 682-4397. Spaguettissimo. 13 Paseo de Locutores St.; phone: 565-3708. Toscana. 34 L St., Elkman. International cuisine: Paco's Bananas. 64 Danae St., Gazcue; phone: 682-3535. El Meson de la Cava. 1 Mirador del Sur Ave.; phone: 533-2818. Black & Light. 157 Pedro Henriquez Ureña Ave.; phone: 687-9713. Seafood: Sully Restaurant. 19 Charles Summer St.; phone: 562-3389. Bucanero Restaurant. España Ave., Sans Souci Cruiseship Port Terminal; phone: (809)592-2202.

WHERE TO SHOP AROUND The duty-free shop at the Centro de Los Heroes is the right spot to go shopping. The Modelo Marketplace in Mella Ave. on the corner of Santome St. is the best place when it comes to buying handicrafts. Besides the El Conde Ave., the Mella Street has everything you need. Other stores are The Flea Market and the “February 27” Opportunity Market; the Centro de Los Heroes, the Naco Square and the brand-new American-style Unicentro Shopping Mall in February 27 Ave. on the corner of Abraham Lincoln Ave. Other choices are the Caribe Plaza, the February 27 department stores and the Leopoldo Navarro shopping center, alongside the high-tech Churchill Center, the Pola Supermarkets and a variety of other stores.Neighborhoods In Santo Domingo, Santa Barbara is not only a Virgin's name but rather a highly populated sector inhabited by feisty people, a neighborhood where past and present blend together with houses, old-timed churches and rundown living quarters. Santa Barbara is also a small and grand capital sector marked by steep hills and zigzagging streets. The name stems from the town's own historical development since that was also the moniker of the walled town's defensive fortress and the burg itself. Both architectural relics –built circa 1528- lord it in the Dominican capital regardless of time impairment and the intense earthquakes the city has been hit by. The sanctuary was also victimized by the rage of British pirate Francis Drake, who burned and ransacked the temple that today treasures a venerable national heritage. The Santa Barbara Church holds the glory of being the religious site where Pablo Duarte, the Dominican founding father and harbinger of the Trinitarian, was baptized.

Nooks and Crannies The Priests Alley

One of the city's paramount historical and monumental pinnacles is the Priest Square, an area that formerly formed the cemetery of the town's first cathedral. The square is bordered by the southern façade of the Cathedral and an array of 16th-century houses built to lodge the cathedral's clergymen hemmed in by a long gone arched wall. An old cul-de-sac known as the Priests Alley flows straight into the square. Now both a street and a parking lot, the premises were rebuilt in 1968 and soon became one of the most enthralling corners of Santo Domingo's majestic colonial core that staged the romantic rendezvous and street chats of yesteryear.