A BIT OF HISTORY THROUGH DOMINICAN HOUSES

 

Hello, everyone,

At the end of 2021 first semester, the pandemic due Covid-19 still continued. Therefore, my Composition I students and I kept on working online. Since March 2020, this mode of teaching has allowed students from different parts of the country to join the class. This semester, we continued working on the writing project, Historic Houses in the Dominican Republic. As always, I guided my students to do research about a historic house they chose. Simultaneously, they engaged in the steps of the writing process paragraph by paragraph in class. The result was a five-paragraph composition per student. This time, I share one of those papers with you all. I hope you learn a little bit of the history of the Dominican Republic by reading Sandra Batista’s piece. Which part of Sandra’s paper called your attention? Miss Batista and I will feel great if you leave a comment. 

MUSEO DE LAS CASAS REALES

(The Royal Houses Museum)

By Sandra Batista de la Cruz

            The Royal Houses Museum is an incredible place for Dominican history. This Museum is important in this country for keeping part of its past such as the evidence of some events that occurred a long time ago. Much information and antique items are found in this museum like furniture, classical weapons, and many other things. They are displayed in its rooms, so that people enjoy their visit and acquire knowledge about their ancestors and about the origin of each historical item inside this wonderful monument.

            First of all, The Royal Houses Museum is a colonial building and a cultural monument of Dominican History. This Museum was built in 1511 in the Zona Colonial (Colonial Zone) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic by decision of Spain Crown, to hold meetings for military and governmental purposes. Besides, it was constructed with first quality stones to beautify its structure. This house has two interconnected buildings. Onen of them functioned as the palace of governors and the other as a royal court. It is divided into two floors that hold a total of twenty showrooms. The first is made up of different galleries that houses collections focused on discovery, conquest, and evangelization. On the second floor, there is the Audience Gallery, exhibitions on legislation, the Room of Family Life, arms rooms, etc. One curious element is found in this monument, the only shield of Queen Juana la Loca is displayed here. The things that are shown in this museum are related to the history of the Discovery, the Conquest, and the Spanish Colonization of Santo Domingo Island. This place opens from Tuesday to Sunday from 9AM to 5PM.

            In addition, The Royal Houses Museum is very interesting. It calls the attention of the public because of its eye-catching view. It is a really big house that covers a very long area. It has 2 horizontal lines of windows, showing that it has two stories, and it is also unpainted. In front of it, there are some palm trees decorating the area to give a little more color to its panorama. Another thing is that this house has many stains, apparently due to age. Every window is square and visually empty, just the holes on the wall are seen. The same happens to the doors, they look as if they were empty, too. All the windows have the same size, and the doors have a curve on the top. This house has many different geometric figures in its physical structure.

            It is important to note, that the Royal Houses Museum has a very beautiful structure and is well managed. It would not be good to remodel or change it because of its unique design. The people in charge have managed it well so far since they have created a defined schedule with specific hours for visitors to get to know this museum, including schools and university groups. This way, students can have a good experience and also learn about the history of their country, and the uses that were given to this museum in the colonial times. Occasionally, there should be some kind of artistic performances like dances, plays, singing, and others. All these could be done with the intention of attracting the attention of the public and making this place a little more interesting. These dynamic activities would help not only the guided excursions, but also give life to the historical events that occurred in this place in the past.

            To summarize, an extensive history is preserved in the the Royal Houses Museum. The whole place is unique. Also, people can enjoy different attractions in the entire monument. It is highly important to learn about the events of the past and much more this beautiful building offers.

San Francisco de Macorís 2021