Tag Archives: museum

Museo La Resistencia Dominicana / Dominican Resistance Museum

Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana / Memorial Museum of the Dominican Resistance

The Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana logo

“The Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana is an educational tool to present the legacy of Dominicans for the present and future generations a world of union of a society based on the culture of Peace, tolerance, truth, justice and respect for rights. / The Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana es una herramienta educativa sobre el legado de los dominicanos a las presentes y futuras generaciones del mundo en su consolidación de una sociedad basada en la cultura de la Paz, la tolerancia, la verdad, la justicia y el respeto a los derechos.”

Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana / Memorial Museum of the Dominican Resistance, Ciudad Colonial, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana

The museum has an amazing collection of historical learning tools and information about the horrific era of the reign and Presidency of General Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina. It has the most complete collection of the story of this terrible time in Dominican history. It is a learning experience for all ages. The museum also has many special events for adults and children. Check their FaceBook page for information.

School children visiting the Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana

You will learn about the moving and informative history of those who gave their lives to fight against the dictatorship Trujillo. The strong men and women who became martyrs to keep this country free.

Fundamental Human Rights for freedom / Derechos Humanos fundamentales para la libertad

The audio tour which is included in the entry price helps to explain all the history that you will see. There is much text to read so make sure you have lots of time to spend because you will want to read, watch the videos and many of the items from this.

There is so much to learn about the recent history of Dominican Republic at the Memorial Museum of the Dominican Resistance.

The Rooms

There are many different rooms to explore inside the Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana. Some of these rooms include interactive displays, robots, animated characters and original items from the era.

These rooms include:

*The history of the brave Gavilleros.
*The true facts of the Haitian Genocide that Trujillo initiated “to cleanse the race.”
*History of the expeditions that were formed with the aim of overthrowing the Trujillo regime.
*Learn about the complacency of the Church and the rupture between the Church and the Government.
*Expeditions of Constanza, Maimon and Estero Hondo and the brave men and women who fell for Dominican freedom and democracy.
*Mirabal Sisters Murder where Minerva Mirabal is presented in a hologram where Minerva she narrates one of her most moving speeches advocating the fight for democracy, accompanied by her two sisters, Patria and María Teresa.
*Trujillo’s execution room shows a recreation of the place where Trujillo fell when he was executed and includes a video of interviews of those who participated in the act.
*Clandestine Movement June 14 and the animated robot of Manolo Tavárez Justo making his moving speech.
*Interesting information about the Guerra de Abril de 1965
*Sala Balaguer displays information of Balaguer’s 12 years in power.
*Sala de Tortura / Torture room, or La 40 displays many of the objects that were used during Trujillos’ tyranny to torture those who opposed the regime. Included in the collection is the electric baton, videos and a model of what was the fearsome prison including the electric chair.

Torture devices and the electric chair at the Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana

Information:

Hours: 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM – Closed Monday

Location: From Calle el Conde turn towards the sea (south) on Calle Sanchez or Calle Jose Reyes. Walk 1 block to Arz. Nouel.

Arzobispo Nouel 210, Ciudad Colonial, Santo Domingo, Republica Dominicana

Contact: 809-688-4440

The interior patio of the Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana is for rent to hold events

Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana Website – https://www.museodelaresistencia.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Museo-Memorial-de-la-Resistencia-Dominicana-142853769137872/

Museums-Galleries-Theaters

Museo de Atarazanas / Museum of Shipyards

Museo de las Reales Atarazanas (MAR) / Museum of Royal Shipyards

The Museo de Atarazanas is a unique Museum of the Sea. This amazing museum in the Colonial City gives visitors an insight into how it really was for those brave and daring sailors that crossed the Atlantic Ocean in search of wealth and adventure.

The entrance to the Museo de las Reales Atarazanas (MAR)

The Building

The building originally was part of the warehouses / atarazanas of the Spanish Crown / Corona Española. Here the goods entering the island were received and stored in this and the surrounding buildings. This area was the center of the mercantile activities of the island.

Construction of the building 16th Century colonial building started around 1509. It was built in different stages. The Gothic-style building with its stone columns, Romanesque barrel vaults, and clay brick walls was thought to have been completed in 1544.

The Museum

The Museo de las Reales Atarazanas tells the story of Spanish galleons, captains and their crew. You can see how these courageous men lived and died on those Spanish galleons and ships that for centuries sailed the seas of the world.

Scale model of the Spaniard ship Our Lady of Guadalupe, Museo de las Atarazanas Reales

The start of the shipwrecks first recorded was on December 25, 1492, when Admiral Christopher Columbus turned over control of the ship Santa María to his cabin boy to sleep and the ship ran aground soon after.

Display of the Santa Maria ship at Atarazanas Reales Museum, Ciudad Colonial Santo Domingo

The Museo de Atarazanas includes historical information of many hundreds of shipwrecks that occurred along the coast of Hispaniola. The island was a strategic center for exploration during the15th and 19th centuries. But the coastline is rough and there were also many powerful storms that hit, making the entire coast a gigantic marine cemetery.

Jewels rescued from shipwrecks at Atarazanas Reales Museum

There is a selection of the thousands of valuable artifacts that have recovered from the sea. The collection includes jewels, coins, ingots, cannons and more. Included in the collection are the remains of two artillery pieces from Ovando’s fleet.

Mexican silver coins rescued from a shipwreck in the coast of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

A very interesting display has a selection of jewelry, coins, ceramics and weights found in a Spanish shipwreck in Punta Cana, also from the 16th century. There is a spectacular display of objects from the galleon Nuestra Señora de la Limpia y Pura Concepción (crashed into the Dominican reefs on October 30, 1641) made up of jewelry, precious stones and Ming ceramics.

A digital map of Spanish fortifications during the early exploration of the Americas

A digital map shows the fortifications of the Spanish during the early exploration of the Americas.

Full-scale replica of the first and second cannon batteries of the galleon Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (18th century), Museo de las Atarazanas Reales

The Museum of Royal Shipyards invites visitors to interact with history. There are many interactive displays and learning tools. One of the most interesting parts of the museum is a full-scale replica of two batteries of an actual colonial ship. You can experience the sounds and scents of the sea.

All the items listed above and so many wonderful items are included in the collection that is part of the Laboratory of Undersea Cultural Patrimony at the new Museo de las Reales Atarazanas. The museum is financed with a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank and is the work of the architects Wilfredo Feliz and Alexy Cordones. The newly remodeled Museo de las Reales Atarazanas (MAR) was inaugurated on December 12, 2019.

Information

Location: Calle Atarazanas and Calle Colón on the corner of Vicente Celestino Duarte in front of the Puerta Atarazana. The street can be accessed by going down the staircase from Plaza España at the Alcázar Colón. Zona Colonial, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Hours:
Tuesday to Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm.

Cost (12-2019): US$7 for foreigners and RD$200 pesos for residents
MITUR rose the bar to another level
6 pm 12/12/2019 inauguran el modernizado , creo q lo abren al público la próxima semana (martes 17).

Contact: (829) 545-1548

Interior pictures by Mariordo (Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz) https://commons.wikimedia.org

Reference:
Diario Libre

Museums-Galleries-Theaters, Parks and Plazas

Cementerio Nacional Avenida Independencia

Cementerio Nacional de la Avenida Independencia/ National Cemetery on Avenue Independencia

The Cementerio Nacional on Ave. Independencia, Santo Domingo, is the first national cemetery in the Dominican Republic. They inaugurated it during the Haitian occupation by Haitian President Jean Pierre Boyer, August 29, 1824. The cemetery has been closed since 1965. The last persons interred there were constitutional soldiers who died during the civil war.

This large gated cemetery, with an area of 16,000 square meters and 3,275 graves, has been around for over 500 years. Surrounded by a wall, it was a commonplace to execute people. María Trinidad Sánchez and Antonio Duvergé were both executed here.

Graves and tombs Cementerio Nacional de la Avenida Independencia/ National Cemetery on Avenue Independencia

Persons Buried in the Cemetery

Buried beneath the soil is history in abundance. Yet we will never know all who are buried in this disorganized resting place as many of the graves are not marked and have been destroyed by time and looters.

A monument dedicated to the loss of a child at the Cementerio Nacional de la Avenida Independencia/ National Cemetery on Avenue Independencia

Buried in the Cementerio Nacional are many of the founders and the people who created Santo Domingo. There are people who died because of different plagues that spread throughout the country. Many of those interred here are children and infants. Represented here are the dead from hurricane San Zenón that took. They have laid many races and nationalities to rest in this bleak but interesting place. There are people from the Haitian occupation buried here with their tombstones written in French. Buried here are casualties from many wars and conflicts that occurred in the Dominican Republic including, The War of Restauración, Annexation to Spain, The War of Independence, The Intervention of the US Marines (6 Marines are buried here). There are tombs of many of the Dominican Republic Presidents here including Francisco Gregorio Billini Aristy, El Padre Billini and José Núñez de Cáceres (1772-1846).

This link has a list of all the people interred at the Cementerio Nacional de la Avenida Independencia. Censo de Tumbas en el Cementerio Viejo de Santo Domingo de la Av. Independencia.

The moving monument to Lusia Ozema Cementerio Nacional de la Avenida Independencia/ National Cemetery on Avenue Independencia

The history of Professor Luisa Ozema Pellerano de Castro.

Ignored Historical Site

The Cementerio Nacional de la Avenida Independencia was declared a Patrimonio Cultural/ Cultural Patrimony historical site in 1987. It is still highly ignored by the Dominican people. Street people can be seen sleeping on pieces of cardboard outside the gates at night. There are rats scurrying along doing who knows what in the dark cemetery.

There was a proposed restoration of the National Cemetery in July 2012 that never happened. Story on the Colonial Zone News Blog.

Passing by in the daylight one can always see dogs inside the gates. Sleeping on a grave. Could it be the grave of its master? One day I saw a dog lying atop a grave chewing on a large bone. Makes one think…

The dogs occuping the National Cemetery on Avenue Independencia

I urge everyone to visit this interesting yet sad cemetery. Take a walk, view the tombs and the strange grave markers from times past. But, please only go in the daylight hours and be cautious of your surroundings.

I made a picture slide show of the Cementerio Nacional with many pictures and information of this Historical National Monument.

A toppled cross grave at the National Cemetery on Avenue Independencia

Location:

Go to the beginning (west) of the Conde at Independencia Park. Turn left (south) walking in front of the park. Take the first road to the right (south), Ave. Independencia (at the end of Arz. Nouel the street name changes), and continue walking up this street (away from the Colonial Zone). The cemetery is 2 blocks up on the left. Located in Ciudad Nueva between Av. Independencia, Calle Canela, Calle Padre Billini and Calle Carrerasm

Guide to the Colonial Zone and Dominican Republic