Centro Cultural Eduardo León Jimenes — Attraction in Santiago de los Caballeros

The content and exhibits deserve 5 stars however the rudeness and unprofessionalism of the guides make this a very unpleasant experience.

The good: Exhibits are of very good quality, we saw a local artist exhibit which was very interesting.

The bad: No instructions regarding the use of phone or cameras in the exhibits. I was using a Sony Camera with no Flash and one of the guides told me I can't use a professional camera but I was allowed to use my phone camera ( I am not sure what the rationale is here as I was not using flash). They told another lady in our group to not record video on her phone. So the rules on camera use are not clear and also not posted anywhere in the museum. No drinks are allowed in the museum so we were told to leave all drinks before entering, which we did. After a while the supervisor same yelling at us because someone dropped some water in one of the exhibitions. Somehow they lady assumed it was our group (out of 100+ people that were also in the the same room) and came very impolitely to complain, to which we told her that the water was there when we came in the room. The lady left without even apologizing. In general the instructions from the guide as to what was allowed to do in the exhibit were giving at the moment in very rude fashion. Not sure if our guide was upset about something but one 5 year old touching a glass display does not need to be told off, there are better more subtle ways of treating visitors.

In General, this was a very bad experience would not recommend...

This is one of the best art center and museum in the Dominican Republic. Founded by one of the richest family, which make their extraordinary incomes with production and selling of world famous Dominican cigars. But each Dollars they win with your smoking pleasure it's worth to see in this nice place. The architecture is a little bit modern from the last century and from outside it's look like a supermarket ... but inside they have 2 levels of exhibition. The ground floor has a very nice permanent exhibition about the island Hispaniola and the DR too. Also there is one room for the collection of Centro Leon. At the second level they have monthly changing special exhibitions of several artists. Sometimes they make a large one about all the actual art in DR. The Centro Leon has also a nice museum shop and a good restaurant too. Due the month there are several evening events for the local in-crowds and pseudo-bohemians. But you as an worldtraveller will enjoy the fine and...

Greatest museum of the Dominican Republic. The fact that is located in a centric place in the city makes it even more attractive. The arts inside-out are truly dominican. Not only that they have art expositions but also the activities every month are for the family, and for free. Tuesdays are also open house and the other days you would only pay around 4 bucks, which is totally worth it. I don't see the problem of the museum being private, it is actually the best way to preserve the most valuable pieces of art and history, since the goverment wouldn't invest so much in the arts. Centro León is just...