Alcázar de Colón, Santo Domingo

Visit the Columbus Alcazar Museum and contemplate the first viceroyship palace of the New World.

Alcázar de Colón
© Turismo de República Dominicana

The Alcázar is one of the most relevant spots in the Ciudad Colonial and the first fortified palace in the New World.

The famous Don Diego Columbus Viceroyship Palace, was erected near the headlands looking towards the river, after the land was given to Diego Columbus, viceroy of The Indies, by the king Ferdinand II of Aragon.

Inside the Alcázar de Colón
© Turismo de República Dominicana

When he arrived to the island, Don Diego Columbus commanded the construction of his new residence; for that purpose he used Spanish builders in charge of 1,500 indigenous people. The structure, made up of coral rocks, was built between 1510 and 1514 following a design that mixed Spanish and Italian Renaissance, Gothic and Mudejar styles.

This monumental building has 55 rooms as well as 72 doors and windows that have been witnesses of the most important meetings in which conquerors like Cortés, Velázquez or Balboa planned to colonize Mexico, Cuba or Peru, among other territories. From its architecture stands out the fact that they didn’t use a single nail to build the different rooms of the palace.

The residence has been used as a home for the Columbus family of Toledo until approximately 1577. In 1586, the fearsome pirate Francis Drake invaded the city, and it seems he took an important number of valued treasures located in the Alcázar.

After centuries, the building started to deteriorate so, in order to be protected, it was declared National Monument in 1870. In 1955 it suffered an important and highly controversial restoration because the original appearance of the building wasn’t respected and it ended up becoming an eclectic construction when two cubes were erected on the laterals and galleries of both facades.

During the restoration, remains and ruins of what it could have been antique rooms for the viceroy were discovered in front of the Alcázar, however, the decision of burying them forever was finally taken.

Nowadays, the Alcázar de Colón Museum has 22 rooms that you’ll be able to visit, discovering at the same time the decoration of the various rooms, with furniture and decorative elements from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries that represent the lifestyle from the 16th to the 18th centuries.

More information:

Location:

Plaza España square, Colonial Area. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Ticket price:

100 RD$.

Opening Times:

Tuesday through Sunday from 9:00am to 5:00pm.

Telephone:

(+809) 686 8657.