Calle Hostos is one of the most beautiful and unique in the Colonial Zone. This very old and historical street runs from North to South through the heart of the Colonial City.
Looking down Calle Hostos towards Calle el Conde. The Iglesia Altagracia is on the left.
The street originally was named Calle del Hospital, named so because of the Hospital San Nicolás de Bari is located on this calle antiguo. Hostos was also called Calle Militar.
Calle Militar changed its name again in 1904. The name was changed to what it is today, Calle Hostos. It is named after the Dominican national hero and educator Eugenio María de Hostos (1839-1903).
Calle Hostos hill with wooden houses.
The most beautiful and most photographed part of this historic street is going up the steep hill. There are stairs on either side of the steep cobblestone street. Here you can see some of the original old wooden houses, protected by UNESCO, lining the incline.
Calle Hostos has been the location for many different movie shoots the most famous being The Godfather II.
Fuerte de la Concepción was built later in the history of the Colonial City. The fort is located at a very strategic location along the farthest northwestern side of the walled city of Santo Domingo.
The Fuerte de la Concepción and the Puerta del Conde, Parque Independencia.
The fort was designed by Juan Bautista Ruggero in 1672 and was built in 1678. It was an important addition to the city of Santo Domingos protection.
The Fuerte de la Concepción look out tower facing the land.
The strategic location of this important fort was for the initial protection of Santo Domingo and helped to deter many attempted take overs of the capital by land. It was the only fort to look towards the very isolated areas of what is now San Carlos. This was a very strategic location because they were able to view problems coming from inside the island where as most of the forts looked towards the sea or river areas.
The Fuerte de la Concepción catwalk is overgrown with weeds.
Included in the Fuerte de la Concepción, which can still be seen to this day, was a very wide approach ramp for the cannons, the round watch towers and a catwalk around the wall. Gone are the ammunition storage and troop houses. Replacing them are fruit stands and vendors selling their wares.
The Fuerte de la Concepción has not been taken care of very well.
Interesting facts:
*The fort area was used as a tram station from 1884 to 1904 when the fort was completely destroyed in a fire.
*The gate located in this wall is named Puerta de Lemba after a slave that was executed here.
*Fuerte de la Concepcion was where the people gathered when a natural disaster struck.
The Fuerte de la Concepción on Calle Palo Hicado as seen from Calle el Conde.
Location
: Calle Palo Hincado and Calle Las Mercedes. It is at the far end of the Colonial Zone across from Calle el Conde and next to Parque Independencia.
Located in a quiet part of Ciudad Colonial is the nice little Plaza Parque Pellerano Castro. It is also known by the locals as Parque Rosado / Pink Park and Parquecito De Los Poetas / Poets Park. Whatever you call it, this out of the way park is a nice place to rest relax.
The relaxing parque Pellerano Castro also known as Parque Rosado
Nice private benches for relaxing at Parque Rosado
Parque Alfredo Pellerano Castro
The park had a make-over in the 1990s and was remodeled by the architect Manuel S. Gautier. Parque Rosdao /Pink Park, named such because it is painted a soft pink color, is a perfect place to rest in peace and quiet. There are many benches located under beautiful shade trees with hanging creepers giving this park a unique feeling. The other edges of the park have banana, avocado and mango trees. You can also see some chickens running around from time to time. If you’re lucky you may get to meet some of the local dogs who make this park their home.
The local dogs visiting the place where the bust of Pellerano Castro once stood in the park that is his namesake.
Arturo Bautista Pellerano Castro
This quiet park is named after the poet Arturo Bautista Pellerano Castro, who was also known by the pseudonym of Byron, born in Curazao March 13, 1865 and died in Santo Domingo May 5, 1916. There once was a bust of the poet located in the park. There is a stand where the poets bust was once located with a plaque that commemorates the poet and has a few of his quotes.
The bust of Poet Julia de Burgos in Parque Rosado.
Poet Julia de Burgos
(February 17, 1914 – July 6, 1953 (she died of pneumonia in Harlem at the age of 39))
The newest addition to the park is a bust of Julia de Burgos, created by sculpture René Alejandro Guzmán, and inaugurated February 6, 2014.
A close-up of the bust of Poet Julia de Burgos in Parque Rosado
Burgos, a playwright, poet, journalist and activist, is considered to be the most outstanding Puerto Rican poet of the twentieth century. She hung in the circles of intellectuals like Juan Bosch and Dominican politician Juan Isidro Jiménez Grullón, who became an inspiration of many of her best poems. She was a fighter against political injustice. In 1944 she wrote two poems for the centenary of the country: “A la Ciudad Primada de Santo Domingo” and “Hymn to the Blood of Trujillo”.
Plaza Pellerano Castro under the soft lights at 5AM.
Location: Walking from the eastern end of the Conde turn right towards the sea (north) on Calle Isabel la Católica or Calle Las Damas. Walk to the end of either of these streets and you will run into the park. Located at the intersections of Calles José Gabriel García, Arzobispo Meriño, Isabel La Católica in the Colonial Zone.
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