Pueblo Viejo, Dominican Republic

History

The town that is now known as Pueblo Viejo was the place where in 1504 Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, the conqueror of Cuba, founded the colonial town of Azua de Compostela. It was so-called in honour of one of the first Spanish settlers in the area, Don Pedro Gallego, a native of Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia, Spain. The first part of the name is derived from the local Indian name for the area. The old and thriving colonial city was destroyed by an earthquake on 16 October 1751. The settlers moved further north, near the River Road, and established a new urban centre.