Santo Domingo, the capital city of the Dominican Republic, may become one of your favorite destinations. Visitors soon discover that the Dominican Republic features more than just sunny weather, soft white beaches and dazzling waters. They offer many activities and excursions, as well as entertainment that starts off with fiery merengue music. Filled with historic sites, Santo Domingo today is a city of broad avenues and new buildings. The cathedral, begun in 1514, is the oldest in the Western Hemisphere; until 1990 it contained the alleged tomb of Christopher Columbus, which was moved to the Columbus Memorial Lighthouse in 1992. Construction of the world's largest, and very expensive, lighthouse was not very well received in the poor country, whose native population was almost wiped out after the arrival of Columbus and whose current population is largely of African, not Spanish, descent.