Discovered by Christopher Columbus in his first voyage (1492), the Hispaniola island, located in Greater Antilles archipelago, between Cuba and Puerto Rico, was the site of the first European colony, founded in 1493, but also of the oldest European city in the Americas, Santo Domingo, dating to 1496 (officially to 1498). Expeditions which led to Ponce de León's colonization of Puerto Rico, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar's colonization of Cuba, Hernando Cortes' conquest of Mexico, and Vasco Núñez de Balboa's sighting of the Pacific Ocean were all launched from Santo Domingo, known as the "Gateway to the Caribbean". In June 1502 the city was destroyed by a hurricane, and the new Governor rebuilt it on the other side of the Ozama River. The original layout of the city can still be appreciated today throughout the Ciudad Colonial (Colonial City), declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1990.
Known colloquially as Zona Colonial (Colonial Zone), the Ciudad Colonial is located on the west bank of the Ozama River, which bisects the city. The central public space of the district is Parque Colon (in the first postcard), a square that borders the cathedral and has a late-19th-century bronze statue of Christopher Columbus in its center. The Cathedral of Santa María la Menor is the oldest cathedral in the Americas, begun in 1512 and completed in 1540. It once held the title Primate of the Americas, it has since been the only Archdiocese to have held this title. The building combines elements of both Gothic and Baroque with some lavish plateresque styles as exemplified by the high altar chiseled out of silver. Of note, the remains of Christopher Columbus were once housed at the cathedral, before their final resting place in the Faro a Colon.
About the stamp
Frankly, I don't know if it is a stamp or just a label, as the ones used for priority mail. It looks like a stamp, was issued by Instituto Postal Dominicano (INPOSDOM), and was postmarked, but has also a bar-code and a number. Furthermore, it seems that it has an universal face value (official mail / priority mail / by air mail). I didn't find anything else about this stamp / label nor even on this institution's site and on its philatelic blog.
References
Santo Domingo - Wikipedia
Ciudad Colonial (Santo Domingo) - Wikipedia
Basilica Cathedral of Santa María la Menor - Wikipedia
Calle El Conde - Virtual Tourist
sender: Sînziana Moldovan
sent from Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), on 13.11.2013