Things to Do at Catedral Primada de América

The Catedral Primada de América holds the record as the oldest cathedral in the Americas, its coral limestone walls rising from Plaza de Armas since 1512 when Spanish colonists laid the first stones. Entry costs 50 Dominican pesos ($0.90), payable at the small wooden desk just inside the main doors where an elderly caretaker stamps tickets with a faded purple ink pad. The Gothic and Renaissance facade bears the scars of five centuries, including Hurricane David in 1979, but step through the heavy mahogany doors and cool air immediately embraces you, thick with the lingering scent of centuries of incense and beeswax candles. Your footsteps echo across worn marble floors as filtered sunlight streams through stained glass windows, casting jeweled patterns that shift throughout the day. The cathedral houses what many believe are Christopher Columbus's remains in an elaborate marble tomb, though this claim is disputed by Seville's cathedral. Visit early morning around 8am when the first Mass draws local worshippers and the tour groups haven't arrived, or late afternoon when golden light illuminates the intricate wooden altarpiece carved by Spanish artisans in 1540. The sound of morning prayers in Spanish creates an almost hypnotic atmosphere, punctuated by the soft shuffle of leather sandals on stone and the distant hum of Colonial Zone traffic filtering through thick walls.