It is a building of two rectangular levels joined by a central corridor and two galleries. In its origins it was a great palace of 55 rooms of which only 22 are preserved.
This palace of coral rocks was granted by King Ferdinand the Catholic to Don Diego Columbus, the first-born son of Christopher Columbus and the fourth governor of the Indies, and served as a family home and governor's mansion.
Its construction began in 1510-1511. Diego Columbus had to wait until 1514 to see the completion of what would become the first fortified palace in the Americas.
During the Spanish colonial period, the mansion occupied a very important place in history. It was from here that many of the expeditions of conquest and exploration in the New World were planned.
The palace was abandoned in 1577, and then plundered by the English privateer Sir Francis Drake in 1586.
By the middle of the 18th century, this building was in a very serious condition. It was planned to take advantage of the structure to make a public jail.
It was in 1870 when it was declared a National Monument, but it was not until 1955 when the restoration work began under the direction of the Spanish architect Javier Barroso. It was decorated with furniture, works of art and other accessories brought from Spanish palaces of the same period.
Currently the Alcazar de Diego Colon is the most visited museum in the Dominican Republic. It faithfully recreates how the Columbus family lived in colonial times, and has a collection of artwork from the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
