The Museum of the Royal Houses or Royal Palaces, is a colonial building that is one of the most important Cultural Monuments in Dominican History.
The Museum of the Royal Houses is of a historical nature, since it presents a building with Hispanic architecture. On October 18, 1973, during the government of President Joaquín Balaguer, it was instituted as a Museum, but it was not until May 31, 1976, that it was officially recognized by Law as the Dominican National Museum, which was registered under the Law 580. King Juan Carlos I of Spain was present at the opening ceremony.
This Museum was created to collect and highlight the history, life and customs of the inhabitants of Hispaniola during the time of the Viceroyalty of the Indies, the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo and the Spanish Province of Santo Domingo. Currently it is one of the most visited and crowded by tourists in Santo Domingo, since it is located in the Colonial Zone.
The museum has 9 rooms and is made up of 2 buildings that communicate with each other, the first was known as the Palace of the Governors and the other was the Royal Audience and General Accounting Office.
This museum is considered one of the most outstanding on the continent, due to its cultural collection and also because it is one of the most important museums in the Dominican Republic, as it shows a large part of Dominican history.
It shows great relics from the colonial era of the island to the proclamation of the separation from Spain in 1821, among them, the only coat of arms in the world of Queen Juana I of Castile, ruler of Spain and the Indies.
The Museum of the Royal Houses or Royal Palaces, as it was called during the time of the captaincy general and the province, had two palaces as its headquarters, which date back to the 16th century. This royal palace was built by order of the Crown of Castile, in the reign of Fernando II of Aragon, on October 5, 1511, in order to house the main government offices of the time.
This was called the Building of the Royal Houses, since the Royal Court was located there, which was the first court in the New World, it was also used as the Residence of the Governors and General Captains of the time, this second was called the Captaincy General. This building served as the home of people such as Bartholomew Columbus, Louis Ferrand, among others.
This building has been and is of monumental interest, since it has its own strong character and high interest in its internal spaces, it also has assets of cultural interest linked to its architecture that are an integral part of the values that the institution has to offer its visitors.
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