Alcázar de Colón, View with Plaza

1510-1540

Name(s) currently unknown

Santo Domingo, DOM

This building, a palace built for the son of Christopher Columbus, occupies a large and visible site overlooking the Ozama river, and would have been one of the city’s most visually prominent buildings in the colonial period. Through architectural statements like this one, elites made their social place known to a larger public.

To the right in this image, the Ozama river flows inland from the port of Santo Domingo along here. The gateway at right led into the compound from the city wall. The flat carving of its exterior decoration is typical of Plateresque architecture, a style popular in 15th century Spain. The building itself has a limited number of windows, adding to its fortress-like appearance.

The house commanded a choice spot in the recently-founded capital of Santo Domingo. Protected by a fortress wall, it overlooks the Ozama River. While in other cities, leading citizens choose lots on the main plaza, adjacent to the Cathedral, in Santo Domingo, the Columbus family chose to be in a more visually prominent spot, closer to the port

Mary Carlson

Dana Leibsohn and Barbara E. Mundy.
Vistas: Visual Culture in Spanish America, 1520-1820. http://www.fordham.edu/vistas, 2015.

Palm, Erwin Walter. 1945-46. “Plateresque and Renaissance Monuments of the Island of Hispaniola.” The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 5, 1-14.

Palm, Erwin Walter. 1974. Arquitectura y arte colonial en Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo: Editora de la Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo.

Palm, Erwin Walter. 1984. Los monumentos arquitectónicos de la Española. 2nd ed. Santo Domingo: Editora de Santo Domingo.