The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic

THE ITALIAN LEGACY IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

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Ultimately abandoned two centuries after its construction by the Columbus family—who devoted their

energies to fighting for their lost rights in Spain—it suffered from the physical damage brought on by aban-

donment. Consequently, its ceilings began to give way, so its most articulated parts, such as the arches and

balustrades, beams, tiles, and floors, became easy prey for extraction in the form of an open-pit quarry that

was available for other construction sites. The palace ended up being vandalized in this way, and its compo-

nents were reused in other works until it was expropriated and declared a National Monument on February

3, 1870. Its ceilings, floors, arches, and balustrades were rebuilt by the Spanish architect Javier Barroso in 1956

-1957 using the criteria of the period (“as it was supposed to be”). In Spain, Barroso set about purchasing a

large quantity of antique furnishings, tapestries, domestic items, and utensils in order to recreate the colonial

atmosphere of the palace and open it to the public as a museum.

Today, the Viceregal Palace and its invaluable collections are in need of proper conservation in keeping

with its role as the most visited museum in the Caribbean.

These brief notes precede a soon-to-be published monograph on the Viceregal Palace.

Santo Domingo,

Viceregal Palace of

Diego Colón. West

façade. Orthogonal

projection of the point

cloud in false colors,

preparatory to the

digital models. Laser

scanner technology by

Margherita and Luigi

Caputo (2018).

Page 235:

Santo Domingo, Viceregal Palace of

Diego Colón. East façade on the Ozama

River and west and south façades

before the restoration in 1957.

Opening page:

Santo Domingo,

Viceregal Palace of

Diego Colón. West and

south façades (2020).