Santo Domingo - Museum of the Royal Houses

(Local Name: Museo De las Casas Reales) This enormous brick and coral building with high ceilings and wide staircases sweeping up to a grand salon hung with portraits of the Spanish kings originally consisted of two buildings, the Palace of the Captain-General and Palace of the Royal Audiencia (similar to a Supreme Court), which were both built in the beginning of the 16th C and joined by a single facade in the late 18th C.

Once the colonial administrative center for all the Spanish West Indies, Casa Reales is now a museum featuring Colonial era artifacts, including a re-creation of the governor's receiving room, maps, weapons and military uniforms.