denny Schools Periods & Styles book

Hispaniola was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492, and was the first island in the New World settled by the Spanish. By 1550, the indigenous culture of the Taino Indians had vanished from the island, and Hispaniola became a neglected backwater of the Spanish Empire. Nonetheless, scattered across the island, the Spanish left behind town layouts that reflected their cultural heritage. Santo Domingo was a walled city, modeled after those of medieval Spain, and for three decades was the seat of Spanish power and culture in the New World. The layout of the city followed the classic European grid pattern, with several plazas. After a period under French control, the eastern portion of the island became independent and known as the Dominican Republic. A massive migration from rural to urban areas characterized the twentieth century, with nearly 60 percent of Dominicans living nowadays in urban areas. The capital, Santo Domingo, is the largest city by far. In recent decades, various mono-zoned, exclusive residential enclaves have appeared along with all-inclusive hotels, both sitting starkly in contrast to the surviving villages and towns of colonial breeding. Local and neighboring New Urbanists are gradually challenging the legal constructs that facilitate such incongruent insertions in the fabric of the landscape. On the western end of the island, French colonists held control until 1789, when revolution in France sparked dissension in the colony. In 1804, the rebel ...