The Santo Domingo Museums at the Convent-Hotel Casa Santo Domingo

A few places preserve as much of the valuable past of La Antigua Guatemala as the Palace of the Captains and the Cathedral, as well as the ancient convent of Santo Domingo turned today into an important museum and hotel in La Antigua Guatemala.

The Santo Domingo Museums at the Convent-Hotel Casa Santo Domingo

A few places preserve as much of the valuable past of La Antigua Guatemala as the Palace of the Captains and the Cathedral, as well as the ancient convent of Santo Domingo turned today into an important museum and hotel in La Antigua Guatemala.

Location in La Antigua Guatemala Click here and go to the interactive map.

It is located at the entrance of the Colonial City on the 3ª Calle Oriente, known as the Santo Domingo Street.

The monumental construction, described as worthy of admiration not only in the Kingdom but also in Europe, was inaugurated in 1551 and occupied by the Order of Santo Domingo, characterized for being respectable religious men.

It is one of the many constructions that were damaged by the earthquake in 1773 and was, like many others, abandoned and then used for diverse purposes, among them housing the National Institute for Boys Antonio Larrazábal (INVAL), but the profit gotten from the ancient convent did not stop there, since people extracted material from its walls to use it in other constructions.

Years went by and due to the constant archeological studies done in the place it held an archeological reference center until 1998, when it became property of PROTUNAC, turning later into the hotel and Cultural Center Casa Santo Domingo.

An outstanding hotel

Inside you can watch the process of the fabrication of majolica ceramic and wax pieces. It has rooms for exhibitions and galleries for artworks. You can also take a look at the crypt area and the representation in model of a procession under the Arch of Santa Catalina. The whole place is a museum, since the building and decoration parade that category. Now it even has a cultural space open to the public which houses five museums in the so called Museum Walk.

Colonial Art Museum

It is located to the side of the main area of what once was the Church’s Grand Altar. Objects from the 17th and 18th Centuries are displayed here, as well as some from the beginning of the 19th Century. The wide space, roofless, leaves to the imagination the dimensions and greatness of the original temple.

The decoration and illumination make the entry to the place equivalent to traveling back in time. Once inside, a magnificent silence fills the room and little by little you hear the background music, which along with the environment creates the proper atmosphere of contemplation to admire the ancient images, silverware, cups, guards, cherubs, and virgins. Due to the nature of the pieces, taking pictures is allowed only without a flash.

Pre colonial Art and Modern Glass Museum

You can watch pieces produced by the Mayan here. These pieces are impressive for its shape as well as for its size and color. One of the key pieces of the museum is an censer and a plate with butterflies, this last one has the Teotihuacán style and was found on the Southern Coast of Guatemala.

It belongs to the Late Classic Period, its colors and meticulous details are preserved in excellent state. These pieces date from between the 400 and 900 A.D. Mayans were known for the advances they reached in several disciplines, including art.

These pieces have been preserved thanks to the fact that during the burials of their governors they included these delicate artworks surrounded by balls of mud and hay, which deadened any impact.

It is worth mentioning, as an important fact, the delicate nature of these pieces that were not carved in stone, and even though they are fragile, they were kept without trouble in spite of being buried for hundreds of years, even surviving the various earthquakes that shook the territory.

Archeological Museum

Decorated with beautiful paintings, this museum keeps around 50 archeological samples in ceramic and stone: cups, plates, censers, coffins, and ceremonial objects.

Among the most appealing pieces is a bud vase collection made in clay, these are curiously round with a short and narrow neck. It is believed that they were once used to keep grains or liquids.

Handcraft and Kitchen Museum

At this place you can see tin pieces, ceramic, vases and other pieces used for cooking in the old days. The utensils evidence that their style possessed a colorful and thorough decoration, making each element an art manifestation.

Contemporary Art Museum

Next to the Pre Colonial Art and Modern Art Museum, on this wide room there is an exhibition of pieces with a great artistic value, among them a collection of ancient engraved pieces done in black and white. Frequently, there are painting expositions, using a special area for that matter.

Pharmacy Museum

In here they keep furniture and utensils that were once used in the Oriental Drugstore in Guatemala City, among them a counter and table with marble plate, built at the end of the 19th Century.

There are also 16 ancient volumes about pharmacy, replicas of containers and bottles that were originally made by the French house Fontemoig & Peigney, founded in 1895.