The Alcázar de Colón, or Columbus Alcazar is the first fortified

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an palace built in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. It is located in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

's colonial area of

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

city, and forms part of the

Ciudad Colonial Ciudad Colonial (Spanish for "Colonial City") is the historic central neighborhood of the Dominican Republic's capital Santo Domingo. It is the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the Americas. The area has been decla ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

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. It was built between 1510 and 1514 mostly in a Gothic and Renaissance style. It is the only known residence of a member of the

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

family in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

, his first-born son

Diego Columbus Diego Columbus ( pt, Diogo Colombo; es, Diego Colón; it, Diego Colombo; 1479/1480 – February 23, 1526) was a navigator and explorer under the Kings of Castile and Aragón. He served as the 2nd Admiral of the Indies, 2nd Viceroy of the Indie ...

, whose children Juana, Isabel, Luis and Christopher were born in the palace. Diego Columbus died in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in 1526 but María Álvarez de Toledo, his widow, remained there until her death in 1549. Three generations of the Columbus family inhabited the residence, possibly until the late 16th century. The

Tapestry Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads ma ...

collection (spanning from the 15th to 17th centuries) is particularly important and unique in the Caribbean, and includes pieces produced by the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

Van Den Hecke family from

cartouche In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the f ...

s created by

Charles Le Brun Charles Le Brun (baptised 24 February 1619 – 12 February 1690) was a French painter, physiognomist, art theorist, and a director of several art schools of his time. As court painter to Louis XIV, who declared him "the greatest French artist of ...

. The Alcázar is the most visited museum in Santo Domingo.

History

The Alcázar de Colón was built between 1510 and 1514, in year 1509 Columbus himself bacame governor and viceroy of the colony, it was built following the influences of the existing one in Mancera de Abajo, in

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...

(Spain), of which ruins are still preserved. The name of the architect who carried out the construction of this fortified palace is unknown. Mainly

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

in style, it also has some

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

characteristics, notable in its

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

s. Some of the most famous Spanish

conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

such as Hernán Cortés and Pedro de Alvarado visited the residence. During the early

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

colonial period, the mansion occupied a very important place in history. It was from here that many expeditions of conquest and exploration were planned. In 1586, the palace was captured and looted by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

pirate Sir Francis Drake and his forces who took many valuables with them. The ownership of the palace was the subject of litigation for nearly two centuries from that year. It is the only known residence of a member of the Columbus family, apart from Christopher's birthplace, which is still in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

. Juana, Isabel,

Luis Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

and Cristóbal Columbus de Toledo, children of Don

and his wife Doña María Álvarez de Toledo, were born in the palace. Diego Columbus died in Spain in 1526 but María Álvarez de Toledo, his widow, remained there until her death in 1549. Three generations of the Columbus de Toledo family inhabited it, possibly until 1577. As the influence of

declined, the house fell into deterioration, and by the mid-18th century was abandoned and in danger of rotting away. Originally the residence had 55 rooms, of which only 22 remain. Eventually it was abandoned and the passage of time began to wreak havoc on the structure of the palace. By 1776 the building start to fell into a bad condition and was nearly turned it into a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

, a project that was not carried out. Almost a century later in 1870 it was declared a National Monument and the Dominican government eventually restored the palace. It was restored between 1955 and 1957, being transformed into a 22 rooms museum filled with period furniture, artwork, and other accessories. A self-guided tour using a portable audio speaker that discusses each room's function is available in various languages.

Architecture

The building was constructed using masonry made of coral rocks. It was built on a

plot Plot or Plotting may refer to: Art, media and entertainment * Plot (narrative), the story of a piece of fiction Music * ''The Plot'' (album), a 1976 album by jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava * The Plot (band), a band formed in 2003 Other * ''Plot' ...

close to the rock islet that look towards the

Ozama River The Ozama River () is a river in the Dominican Republic. It rises in the Loma Siete Cabezas mountain in the Sierra de Yamasá mountain range, close to the town of Villa Altagracia. History In 1498, Bartolome Colon had a fort built on the Ozama ...

, granted to

, firstborn son of the discoverer of the Americas,

, by King Ferdinand II of Aragon, to build a dwelling for him and his descendants on the island Hispaniola, to which he arrived in 1509 as

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. The building houses the Museo Alcázar de Diego Colón, whose collection exhibits the Caribbean's most important ensemble of European late

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and

works of art, which were acquired in the 1950s. The palace is an impressive construction of coralline blocks that once housed some fifty rooms and a number of gardens and courtyards, although what remains today is about half the size it once was. It was built under

Diego Colón Diego Columbus ( pt, Diogo Colombo; es, Diego Colón; it, Diego Colombo; 1479/1480 – February 23, 1526) was a navigator and explorer under the Kings of Castile and Aragón. He served as the 2nd Admiral of the Indies, 2nd Viceroy of the Indie ...

, the son of

; when he became the 4th Governor of the Indies in 1509, he ordered the construction of a family home and governor’s mansion between 1510 and 1512. The architectural style is

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

typical of the early 16th century.

Gallery

Exterior

File:Alcazar de Colon sign.jpg, Alcazar de Colon historical marker File:Casa de Colon 384.jpg File:CCSD Plaza España 07 2017 4673.jpg File:Santo Domingo - Alcazar de Colon 02.JPG, As seen from the south File:Alcazar de Colon window.jpg, Alcazar de Colon window File:Alcazar de Colon balcony.jpg, Alcazar de Colon balcony File:Alcázar de Colón in 1954 (Santo Domingo, DR).jpg, Alcázar de Colón in 1954.

Interior

File:Alcazar de Colon interior.jpg, Alcazar de Colon interior File:Santo Domingo - Alcázar de Colón 0881.JPG File:Santo Domingo - Alcázar de Colón 0880.JPG File:Early Modern Armor in Museo Alcazar de Colon - Santo Domingo - Dominican Republic.jpg File:Santo Domingo - Alcázar de Colón 0783.JPG File:Santo Domingo - Alcázar de Colón 0942.JPG

References

External links

Official Alcázar de Colón museum website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcazar De Colon Buildings and structures in Santo Domingo Museums in the Dominican Republic Columbus family Spanish Colonial architecture in the Dominican Republic Tourist attractions in Santo Domingo Ciudad Colonial (Santo Domingo)