Santo Domingo - Convent of the Dominicans

(Local Name: Convento de los Dominicos) The cross-shaped Convent of the Dominicans contains outstanding altars. The building dates from 1510 and in 1538 the first university in the New World, dedicated to St. Thomas Aquino, was founded there; though the building no longer survives.

The convent was the home of Father Antonio de Montesinos, the first person in the New World to speak out against the Spaniards' abuse of country's indigenous people.