Dominican Republic Museums
The Dominican Republic Museums boast a vast variety of important relics, objects and documents that reveal the country’s history from customs and traditions of the Taino ancestors, the Spanish conquerors and the colonization period up to the present. The Dominican Republic, as the cradle of the new continent, has the important task of preserving the history of the Americas. Colón Lighthouse Museum is a monument to the memory of Christopher Columbus with a museum based on the history of the discovery of the Americas, colonization and evangelization. It also has a mausoleum where the ashes of Christopher Columbus rest. The Royal Houses Museum was the seat of the Supreme Court of the Governor in the 16th century. It exhibits tapestries, maps and other articles ranging from 1492 to 1821and paintings and furniture of the period that show the luxurious lifestyle of the Spanish elite, while a collection of weapons shows how the Tanios were conquered. Considered the best of all the Dominican Republic Museums, the Museum of the Dominican Man has the best collection of pre-Columbian items that reveal the complexity of indigenous art in the shape of jewellery and religious pieces and sculptures. It also shows the impact of African slavery on culture with an exhibition of carnival costumes and a model of a voodoo altar. The Dominican Republic Museums honour the freedom fighter Pablo Duarte (1813–1873), Father of the Nation, in Juan Pablo Duarte Museum, a modest house where he was born. The museum exhibits documents, paintings and fine furniture and iconography related to Duarte’s underground independence organization, La Trinitaria. The National Museum of History and Geography exhibits a collection that covers everything from Taino life to the US occupation, with an emphasis on struggles with Haiti and the excesses of the Trujillo period. The Museum of the Dominican Family from the 19th Century is situated in a 1503 mansion that contains the only double Gothic window in the Americas and the furniture and personal effects of a nineteenth century wealthy family in Santo Domingo. Another important Dominican Republic Museum is the Modern Art Museum in Santo Domingo that demonstrates the vitality and range of contemporary Dominican creativity. Museum of NiñoTrampolín is a special museum that allows children to learn in a modern and fun space. It has gardens, movie theatre, library, craftwork expositions and interactive activities. The Amber Museum houses a unique collection of the world’s most transparent amber in the world, enclosing preserved plants and animals in prehistoric tree sap. In the Larimar Museum you will learn about the process of mining and shaping the semi-precious blue stone into exquisite jewellery. The Museum of the Foundation Garcia Arevalo is an interesting collection of pre-Hispanic art. The museum has the most complete collection of the Taíno culture in the Caribbean and Pre-Columbian archaeology. Other cities in the country also have important museums. In Puerto Plata, Sosúa, another Dominican Republic Museum, the Jewish Museum, is an interesting place to visit as it is a tribute to the 700 refugee Jews who arrived at the Dominican Republic in 1940, during the Nazi occupation of Germany. Some other museums in Puerto Plata are San Felipe Fortress that exhibits the military life of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the Museum of Taino Art on the pre-Columbian archaeology La Romana, a well-known site in the Southeast Coast area has the Amber and Larimar Museum as well as the Archaeological Museum in Altos de Chavón, with a collection of indigenous objects, more than 3,000 pieces found in the region. The Cueva de las Maravillas has the most important sample of rock art, 276 pictographs, left by Taino people in the Caribbean. In Villa Mella you can visit he Museum Confraternity of Espíritu Santo de los Congos. Its mission is conservation, research, exhibition and dissemination of national intangible heritage In Santiago the Museum of Fine Arts, Pre-Columbian Archaeology and Local History is an interesting exhibition of pre-Columbian and colonial archaeology. Also, in Monte Cristi, you will find Máximo Gómez Museum, a private museum on the life and work of General Máximo Gómez, a hero of the Cuban independence. In Samaná, humpback whales return each winter along the North East Coast. You can learn more about their journey at the Whale Museum |