Christopher Columbus is a part of our heritage and paved the way for the founding and development of the United States. At one point, in 1763, well over half of our country was under Spanish rule, stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the Mississippi.

Columbus' comrade Juan Ponce de Leon discovered Florida in 1513. He had arrived in Hispaniola with Christopher Columbus during his second voyage to the new world. Ponce de Leon had become governor of Puerto Rico. So, the city of Santo Domingo which Columbus founded literally helped to give birth to what ultimately became the United States of America.

The first settlement in the United States was built by the Spanish in St. Augustine in 1565, after Pedro Menendez de Aviles sailed from Puerto Rico. He served as the first governor of Florida.

The Colonial City of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic is literally a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it ultimately gave birth to our country. In Santo Domingo, the first institutions in the Americas were built: Saint Mary of the Incarnation Cathedral, Saint Francois Monastery, Saint Thomas Aquinas University,  Nicholas de Bari Hospital, and the Casa de Contratación.  From Santo Domingo, Ponce de Leon, Juan de Esquivel, Hernan Cortes, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Alonso de Ojeda and many others departed in search of new lands.