Atarazanas Reales, Santo Domingo

Last updated
Atarazanas Reales Museum, Colonial City of Santo Domingo Museo Naval Atarazanas Reales CCSD 08 10 2018 786.jpg
Atarazanas Reales Museum, Colonial City of Santo Domingo
The Atarazans Gate viewed in from of the arcade of the Atarazanas Reales Museo Naval Atarazanas Reales CCSD 08 10 2018 812.jpg
The Atarazans Gate viewed in from of the arcade of the Atarazanas Reales

The Reales Atarazanas (Royal Shipyards) is a waterside building that housed the shipyards, warehouses, customs house and tax offices of the old port of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It was the property of the Spanish Crown. Begun in 1509, the Atarazanas is the oldest building of its type still standing in America, and one of a handful remaining in the Spanish world, amongst which are the Atarazanas Reales de Barcelona, in Barcelona, the Atarazanas Reales de Sevilla, in Seville, the Atarazanas del Grao in Valencia and the Royal Dockyard in Havana. [1]

Contents

The Atarazanas building is part of Colonial City of Santo Domingo World Heritage Site, and after restoration in 2018, today houses the Museo de las Atarazanas Reales, which reopened in December 2019 and exhibits artifacts recovered from underwater archaeology and other artifacts from colonial shipwrecks around Hispaniola island and the naval history of the Dominican Republic.

Purposes

Full size replica of two battery decks of the Spanish galleon Guadalupe at the Atarazanas Reales Museum Galleon replica Museo Atarazanas Reales CCSD 12 2018 4673.jpg
Full size replica of two battery decks of the Spanish galleon Guadalupe at the Atarazanas Reales Museum

In addition to serving as warehouses, the complex also housed the Santo Domingo office of the Casa de la Contratación, headquartered in Seville. Thus, the Atarazanas also served as the first customs and tax house of the New World. Management was contracted by the Crown to the powerful Welser banking family of Augsburg, which made use of the Atarazanas in their failed endeavor to colonize Venezuela.

Construction

Construction began in 1509, and ended in 1541. The brick building contains three parallel, barrel vaulted naves of substantial size, although the north nave (which was temporarily given a flat roof) was finally vaulted as a result of a 1972 restoration. The central nave is slightly wider than the two adjoining ones. In the 18th century, the columned entrance portico, which fronts only the first two naves, was added. Its five stone columns support four brick arches of Moorish influence.

Location

President Danilo Medina cutting the ribbon at the reopening of the Atarazanas Reales Museum, December 12, 2019 Reopening Museo Atarazanas Reales CCSD 12 2019 0691.jpg
President Danilo Medina cutting the ribbon at the reopening of the Atarazanas Reales Museum, December 12, 2019

The Reales Atarazanas is located north of the Alcázar de Colón in the Colonial City of Santo Domingo. The building in this small neighborhood contained offices and storage spaces where the mercantile activity of the city was carried out, and where the expeditions to the American mainland were stocked with provisions before their departure. The main street is Calle de las Atarazanas (Atarazanas Street) which begins at the riverside Puerta de las Atarazanas (Atarazanas Gate), which is believed to have been used exclusively for the Atarazanas.

It was reconstructed in the 1970s and restored between 2014 and 2018 at a cost of US$2.6 million. Today houses the Museo de las Atarazanas Reales (MAR), which reopened on December 12, 2019 and exhibits artifacts recovered from underwater archaeology and other artifacts from colonial shipwrecks around Hispaniola island and the naval history of the Dominican Republic. [2] [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santo Domingo</span> Capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo, once known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán and Ciudad Trujillo, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. As of 2022, the city and immediate surrounding area had a population of 1,484,789, while the total population is 2,995,211 when including Greater Santo Domingo. The city is coterminous with the boundaries of the Distrito Nacional, itself bordered on three sides by Santo Domingo Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Higüey</span> Place in La Altagracia, Dominican Republic

Higüey, or in full Salvaleón de Higüey, is the capital city of the eastern La Altagracia Province, in the Dominican Republic, and the eighth largest city of that country. The Yuma River flows through the urban areas of Higüey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ciudad Colonial (Santo Domingo)</span> Historic district in Distrito Nacional, Dominican Republic

Ciudad Colonial 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 declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is also known as Zona Colonial or more colloquially as "La Zona".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Captaincy General of Santo Domingo</span> Spanish possession in the Caribbean (1535–1865)

The Captaincy General of Santo Domingo was the first colony in the New World, established by Spain in 1492 on the island of Hispaniola. The colony, under the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo, was granted administrative powers over the Spanish possessions in the Caribbean and most of its mainland coasts, making Santo Domingo the principal political entity of the early colonial period.

The Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo was the first court of the Spanish crown in America. It was created by Ferdinand V of Castile in his decree of 1511, but due to disagreements between the governor of Hispaniola, Diego Colon and the Crown, it was not implemented until it was reestablished by Charles V in his decree of September 14, 1526. This audiencia would become part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain upon the creation of the latter two decades later. Nevertheless, the audiencia president was at the same time governor and captain general of the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, which granted him broad administrative powers and autonomy over the Spanish possessions of the Caribbean and most of its mainland coasts. This combined with the judicial oversight that the audiencia judges had over the region meant that the Santo Domingo Audiencia was the principal political entity of this region during the colonial period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcázar de Colón</span> First fortified Spanish castle in the Dominican Republic

The Alcázar de Colón, or Columbus Alcazar is the first fortified European palace built in the Americas. It is located in the Dominican Republic's colonial area of Santo Domingo city, and forms part of the Ciudad Colonial UNESCO's World Heritage Site. It was built between 1510 and 1514 mostly in a Gothic and Renaissance style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basilica Cathedral of Santa María la Menor</span> UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Cathedral of Santa María la Menor in the Colonial City of Santo Domingo is dedicated to St. Mary of the Incarnation. It is the first and oldest cathedral in the Americas, begun in 1504 and was completed in 1550. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Santo Domingo who has the honorary title of Primate of the Indies because this cathedral was the first Catholic diocese and the oldest cathedral established in the New World.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museo de las Casas Reales</span>

The Museo de las Casas Reales is one of the important cultural monuments built during the colonial era in Hispaniola, now the Dominican Republic. It is located in the Colonial district of Santo Domingo.

Erwin Walter Palm was a German Latin American scholar, historian, and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hospital San Nicolás de Bari</span> Hospital in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

The Hospital San Nicolás de Bari is a preserved hospital ruin, and it was recognized by UNESCO for being the oldest hospital built in the Americas. Construction began in 1503 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, at the behest of governor Nicolás de Ovando. This grand project was in keeping with the desire to emulate European princely courts, and looked to Renaissance Italy for inspiration. At the time of its completion, the wards could accommodate up to 70 patients, comparable to the most advanced churches of Rome. It is likely that the model for the Hospital de San Nicolás was the large Ospedale di Santo Spirito in Sassia in Rome. The complex forms part of the Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo World Heritage Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parque Colon</span> Historic plaza in Dominican Republic

Parque Colon, or Columbus Park, is the central square of the Ciudad Colonial historic district of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In its Center stands a statue of Christopher Columbus, in whose honor the square was renamed in 1887. Previously the square was known as Plaza Mayor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Dominicans</span>

White Dominicans are Dominican people of predominant or full European descent. They are 17.8% of the Dominican Republic's population, according to a 2021 survey by the United Nations Population Fund. The majority of white Dominicans have ancestry from the first European settlers to arrive in Hispaniola in 1492 and are descendants of the Spanish and Portuguese who settled in the island during colonial times, as well as the French who settled in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Reales Atarazanas may refer to

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seville Shipyard</span>

The Seville Shipyards is a medieval shipyard in the city of Seville. They were operative between the 13th and 15th centuries, and are built in Gothic style.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominican art</span> Cultural output of the Dominican Republic

Dominican art comprises all the visual arts and plastic arts made in Dominican Republic. Since ancient times, various groups have inhabited the island of Ayíti/Quisqueya, or Hispaniola ; the history of its art is generally compartmentalized in the same three periods throughout Dominican history: pre-Hispanic or aboriginal Amerindian, Hispanic or colonial, and the national or Dominican period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casa del Cordón, Santo Domingo</span>

The Casa del Cordón is a property located in the Colonial City of Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic. It is the oldest European stone house in the Americas and probably the first European two-story house. Its name is due to the chiseled sash-and-cord that it presents on its façade, which is associated with the Franciscan Order. It is located on Isabel la Católica street with the corner of Emiliano Tejera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casa de los Cinco Medallones</span>

The Casa de los Cinco Medallones is a Plateresque style house which was built in 1540. It is located in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of Nuestra Señora de Las Mercedes, Santo Domingo</span> Church in Santo Domingo

The Church of Nuestra Señora de Las Mercedes is a colonial Gothic church located in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

References

  1. Banco Popular. Santo Domingo Colonial: Sus Principales Monumentos. Santo Domingo: Banco Popular, 1998
  2. El Museo de las Atarazanas en Santo Domingo, más que una esperanza
  3. El tesoro subacuático es expuesto en el Museo de las Atarazanas Reales

Coordinates: 18°28′41″N69°52′59″W / 18.47811°N 69.88308°W / 18.47811; -69.88308