Monasterio de San Francisco

The Franciscans began building here in 1508, making this the first monastery in the Americas, and the complex grew into a church, cloister and chapel on the rise above the port. Drake's raid in 1586 damaged it, earthquakes brought down more, and by the nineteenth century it had been converted into an asylum before a hurricane finished it in 1930. What stands now are tall walls, arches and the outline of the cloister, stabilised rather than restored. On Sunday evenings the ruin becomes a venue: a long-running open-air party fills it with merengue and old-school Dominican music, with the crowd dancing between the arches under floodlights.

What you actually see

• The standing arches - the church and cloister walls above the port.
• The Sunday night party - merengue among the ruins, floodlit.
• The view down to the river - the colonial city and the Ozama below.
• The asylum cells - traces of the building's nineteenth-century use.

When to go

November to April is the dry season. The ruin can be seen from the street any day, but Sunday evening is when it comes alive, with the music starting in the early evening and running late. Arrive before dark for the view.

Honest expectations

Outside the Sunday event the ruin is fenced and viewed from outside, with no interpretation. The surrounding streets are a working neighbourhood rather than a polished tourist zone, and ordinary caution applies after dark; take a booked ride rather than walking back late. The Sunday party is crowded and loud.

Nearby

The Zona Colonial is downhill; the hospital ruin is on the same street.