<P> Dating from 1496 , when the Spanish settled on the island , and officially from 5 August 1498 , Santo Domingo became the oldest European city in the Americas . Bartholomew Columbus founded the settlement and named it La Nueva Isabela , after an earlier settlement in the north named after the Queen of Spain Isabella I. In 1495 it was renamed `` Santo Domingo '' , in honor of Saint Dominic . Santo Domingo came to be known as the `` Gateway to the Caribbean '' and the chief town in Hispaniola from then on . Expeditions which led to Ponce de León 's colonization of Puerto Rico , Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar 's colonization of Cuba , Hernando Cortes ' conquest of Mexico , and Vasco Núñez de Balboa 's sighting of the Pacific Ocean were all launched from Santo Domingo . </P>
<P> Dating from 1496 , when the Spanish settled on the island , and officially from 5 August 1498 , Santo Domingo became the oldest European city in the Americas . Bartholomew Columbus founded the settlement and named it La Nueva Isabela , after an earlier settlement in the north named after the Queen of Spain Isabella I. In 1495 it was renamed `` Santo Domingo '' , in honor of Saint Dominic . Santo Domingo came to be known as the `` Gateway to the Caribbean '' and the chief town in Hispaniola from then on . Expeditions which led to Ponce de León 's colonization of Puerto Rico , Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar 's colonization of Cuba , Hernando Cortes ' conquest of Mexico , and Vasco Núñez de Balboa 's sighting of the Pacific Ocean were all launched from Santo Domingo . </P>
where does the name santo domingo come from
where does the name santo domingo come from
in honor of Saint Dominic
in honor of Saint Dominic