Where the New World was governed
Built in the first half of the 16th century, these two adjoining stone palaces housed the principal organs of Spanish colonial rule: the Real Audiencia de Santo Domingo — established in 1511 as the first court of appeals in the Americas — together with the offices of the Governor, the Captaincy General and the Royal Treasury.
For much of the 1500s, the law and administration of Spain's new empire radiated from these rooms before power shifted to Mexico and Peru.
A museum of colonial life
Restored in the 20th century, the buildings reopened in 1973 as the Museo de las Casas Reales. Its galleries recreate the colonial offices and display period furnishings, maps, an important collection of arms and armour, and treasures recovered from Spanish shipwrecks.
Across the street stands the Reloj de Sol, a stone sundial built in 1753 and placed so that officials could read the hour from the windows of the Royal Houses themselves.
What you'll see
- ✦The recreated chambers of the Real Audiencia
- ✦A colonial collection of arms and armour
- ✦Maps and treasures from Spanish shipwrecks
- ✦The 1753 stone sundial across the street
