After a shutdown of around 10 months, the government announced the reopening of most government museums starting on Wednesday, 9 December 2020. Visits will be free on weekends, said deputy minister for cultural patrimony, Gamal Michelén Stefan.
A ceremony at the Museum of the Royal Houses (Casas Reales) marked the reopenings in the Colonial City. Museum staff dressed in costumes of the 15th Century to receive the visitors. The Casas Reales Museum is the second most visited museum in the Caribbean, after the Alcazar de Colón, the nearby Columbus Palace. In 2019, Casas Reales received 107,634 visitors. The building served the government seat in the 1500s. The Alcazar de Colón is the Dominican Republic’s most visited museum. In 2019, it received 183,588 visitors, according to data from the Ministry of Culture.
The third most visited museum outside of Santo Domingo, is the San Felipe Fortress in Puerto Plata. It was visited by 72,652 people in 2019.
Culture Minister Carmen Heredia said that students make up the second largest group of visitors to the museums after foreign tourists.
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Listin Diario
9 December 2020