Fuerte de Santa Bárbara

Santo Domingo


Built during the 1570s, this fort served as one of the city’s main points of defense. It proved no match for Drake, however, who, along with his fleet of 23 pirate-packed ships, captured the fort in 1586. Today the fort lies in ruins at the end of a lonely street. There isn’t much to see here any more, mostly rooftops and occasionally a ship in the distance.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Santo Domingo attractions

1. Iglesia de Santa Bárbara

0.03 MILES

This baroque church was built in 1574 to honor the patron saint of the military. After being done over by Drake, however, the church was rebuilt with…

2. Museo del Duarte

0.16 MILES

The 1813 birthplace of Juan Pablo Duarte was converted into a modest museum and renovated in late 2016. Three rooms display documents, artifacts and…

3. Amber World Museum

0.17 MILES

This museum features an impressive collection of amber samples from around the world and excellent exhibits explaining (in Spanish and English) amber's…

4. Museo del Ron y la Caña

0.19 MILES

Housed in a restored 16th-century building, exhibits here celebrate rum and sugarcane, two of the country’s most important exports. Displays and…

5. Monasterio de San Francisco

0.21 MILES

The first monastery in the New World belonged to the first order of Franciscan friars who arrived to evangelize the island. Dating from 1508, the…

6. Museo Alcázar de Colón

0.21 MILES

Designed in the Gothic-Mudéjar transitional style, this was the early-16th-century residence of Columbus’ son, Diego, and his wife, Doña María de Toledo…

7. Plaza España

0.23 MILES

The large open area in front of the Alcázar de Colón has been revamped many times, most recently during the 1990s in honor of the 500th anniversary of…

8. Casa del Cordón

0.24 MILES

Said to be not only one of the first European residences in the Americas, but also one of the first residences in the Western hemisphere with two floors,…

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  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
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