museum of the royal houses

B787skipper

Took a quick tour of this house, I would advise anyone reading this review to do the same.. its a great place that has some great history locked within its walls, it even boasts one of the first Pharmacies.. that alone was spectacular to see.. well worth the tour.

RusPat_704

this was one of the best museums that explains history of a country. Be sure to get audio guide, you have to ask for it. It is included in price of museum. Part of second floor lights were out, you need to ask to have them turned on.

GrahamP113

Again not really enough time on our whistle stop tour but great museum, that really shows how the island was discovered. By Columbus and the history thereafter. Very worthwhile with great history

ElizabethW344

I really enjoyed this museum. The building by itself is impressive, and it has a variety of displays and artifacts. It also had a couple different courtyards to roam around, as well as two resident peacocks. Leave yourself over an hour to completely explore and you will leave satisfied.

NorthernDan

You kind have to be a history buff to enjoy the place. The museum of weapons (purchased by the dictator Trujillo at a Peace Conference) was really cool. I mean they have a sword-gun! We walked through it kinda fast. I wish I could have walked through a little slower. Unless your kids are history buffs I would probably skip it.

shokoufehk

Not sure if this is usually a free museum but it was open till very late at night on a Saturday night in December and was free when we went in! It shows all the furniture and the tools like weapons and armors used at the colonial times. They also display all the slavery of the era (very horrific seeing the paintings of the actual slaves and the tools used to cuff their hands and feet etc )

fiddlegrrl

This museum has a little bit of everything. Old and modern art representing both trained and naive artists. Some prehistory as well as history since the arrival of Europeans and the written word are represented as well. It is small enough to be covered in 1 long visit

bklynbubba

Another example of the perfection of the audio guide system the Dominicans have perfected. You can literally make your own tour of this spectacular museum. You may want to do 2 visits as there is so much to see. I loved it.

Daniel19721972

The casas realles house is a nice place, the museum has it all in one place: old weapons, informations on the Taino indians, old furniture, old sugar cane installation, ...

237jackj

Tours are self guided audio. The English was good and a lot of interesting information is provided. The numbers on the tour don't always flow sequentially and no good signs pointing you to the next location. But, it didn't matter, we ended up seeing is all. The court yards were quite lovely. This place is huge so don't stop if you are tired or near the end of a long day.

wing49er

Excellent small museum. Rich with artwork, displays of historic artifacts, period fashion and more. My favorite sites in the Zona Colonial.

Arialdi

Out of the many attractions of historical significance in the "Zona Colonial" of Santo Domingo, this should be among the top five places to visit if you are a history enthusiast. Here you will find many places and artifacts that illustrate the very first European drives to conquer the American continents. For example, you can sit in the very room that served as the first ever court of justice held by a European imperial delegate in the new world. You will also view various medical devices used around that period, as well as instruments of torture and discipline that were used on slaves and Indians at that time.This building was also used by the dictator Trujillo during his first years as ruler of the country, and his personal collection of ancient weapons is also displayed in this museum.

uclatraveler9

It only costs around $2 to get in, which includes an audio, so I think it's worth a visit. There is a fairly good variety of exhibits. I particularly enjoyed the sections about the Taino people in pre-columbian times and the section about slavery. It's not a huge museum, so an hour or two should suffice.

Granmio

This was the first center of government of all of the Americas, and all traffic from the new world to the old one and vice versa, had to stop here for some 25 years. Well preserved, today a museum, houses some interesting exhibits worth a 1 hr. stop.

Laura41671

Covers both the Spanish explorers/invaders and also the indigenous experience. Not too big or overwhelming. (Audioguides are fortunately free with admission, because they give you NO additional information.)