Michał

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DOMINICANA 🇩🇴

Hispaniola

Between Europe and the Americas — as the better educated surely realize — there’s a bit of water… and on that water, surprises appear, such as *ta-dam!* the island of Hispaniola, and on it — the Dominican Republic.

Hispaniola is the third island reached by C. Columbus on his first voyage (1. Guanahaní / San Salvador, Bahamas; 2. Cuba). It’s fair to say that from December 6th, 1492, Hispaniola became the command center of the entire colonization effort — larger, richer, and more promising than the Bahamas or the then poorly charted Cuba.

I was taken there not by C. Columbus but by Mariano Barroso and Salma Hayek, with their film *“In the Time of the Butterflies”* — sharp greens, oranges, beaches, mountains… a laid-back African vibe on American soil. All of it — maybe except Salma Hayek — is still there!

The island owes its African character, of course, to the Spaniards, who, after exterminating the native population (95% of the Taíno), brought enslaved Africans in their place. The country still shows stark social contrast: the wealthy minority on polished yachts, and the poor in cardboard shacks. If you ignore the jaded upper caste and the extraterritorial enclaves for limited tourists, you can find that good Caribbean life-energy here.

The capital, Santo Domingo (yes, I also think the name is great), founded in 1496, is the oldest European-established city in the Americas that still exists today. The mother of colonial America — with the first universities, first courts, first monasteries, the first cathedral in both Americas. What’s shocking, almost unbelievable, is that the monuments of many immoral, deranged criminals who ravaged the island in the 16th century (see, for example, Nicolás de Ovando) still haven’t been torn down and continue to stain this otherwise beautiful, colorful city.

The first slavery and the planned extermination of the native population — often with the silent approval of the church — took place right here. From its founding, the city served as the administrative center of the Spanish Indies. This is where expeditions of conquistadors departed for Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico… Here lies the beginning of the end of the Americas.

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