Located on the Caribbean coast of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo is a historic city with cobblestone streets and tropical painted houses that remind you of an ancient dwelling. Transformative and traumatic memories are abundant in the city’s colonial area, aka Zona Colonial. History enthusiasts collect the stamps of the city, which show that it was once a hub of trade between the Americas. There are different neighborhoods in Santo Domingo, each with a unique identity. There are restaurants in places like Zona Colonial, Piantini, and El Malecon offering tropical, Caribbean, African, and European flavors. The colonial zone, however, preserves the heart of history and ancestral heritage. You can uncork an intimate experience with Domican Republic with the many unknown stories that are kept for your ancestral curiosity.
To learn more about the beauty, courage, scars, and healing history of the Dominican Republic, we carefully curated a list of spaces.
Memorial Museum of Dominican Resistance (Memorial Museo de la Resistencia Dominicana)-Santo Domingo
There is a lot of history here that you won’t find in most history books, especially in the United States. The timeline includes the foundation of the country, dictatorship, and the unfolding of freedom. As opposed to your typical romance museum where paintings conceal the country’s true identity, this space shares with visitors the struggle, voices, and contrasting views of the Dominican Republic. This historical space is deep in ancestral history. The curated installations may trigger a number of emotions to connect with the heart of Dominican Republic, but the path of generational storytelling is well worth it.
Museo Fernando Peña Defilló
In the middle of the art filled UNESCO city of Santo Domingo, there is a boutique style museum offering both ancestral and contemporary artwork of Fernando Peña Defillo. He was born in Dominican Republic in 1926. Traveling the countryside of Dominican Republic helped him depict the lushness, hills, and rawness of the island in his paintings.
Beside the collectible artwork, the architectural details of the gallery space is a visual memoir of the island interior design. Among the architectural features of the building is the ancestral tile work that is well maintained, and the lushness of the outside balcony is a testament to island beauty.
Cosas Encontradas
The Dominican Republic’s antique treasures can be found here in this place. The shop sectional collection tells many stories about people who once owned these items. Here you can find old photos of families, friends, history, stamps, and many items marked with ancestral roots. As you enter the space you are welcome with the patrichal and matrichal colors of the Dominican flag. There are items of ancestral blueprints buried in the ashes of the memorial chaos. This place welcomes people looking for traces of the Dominican Republic’s ancestral eras.