A first for the New World
Construction began in 1512 under Bishop García de Padilla and was completed in 1540, making this the first cathedral built anywhere in the Americas. Its master builder, Alonso Rodríguez, raised it from the golden coral limestone quarried nearby.
The result is an extraordinary blend of styles: a Gothic ribbed-vault interior, a richly carved Renaissance west façade, and Baroque flourishes added over the centuries — a textbook of European architecture transplanted to the Caribbean.
What the centuries left behind
Inside, fourteen chapels open off the nave, holding colonial-era altarpieces, paintings and tombs. For generations the cathedral was believed to hold the remains of Christopher Columbus before they were moved — a claim still disputed with Seville to this day.
The cathedral anchors the UNESCO-listed Colonial City of Santo Domingo, inscribed in 1990, and remains an active place of worship as well as the city's most visited monument.
What you'll see
- ✦The carved Renaissance west façade in golden coral stone
- ✦The Gothic vaulted nave and its fourteen side chapels
- ✦Colonial-era altarpieces, paintings and tombs
- ✦Its setting on Parque Colón, the city's oldest square
