Centro León

Centro León opened in 2003, funded by the family behind one of the country's largest cigar and tobacco businesses, and it is a serious institution rather than a corporate showpiece. Three permanent exhibitions run in parallel: the anthropology of the island from the Taíno onward, the signs of Dominican identity, and the art collection, built on the annual León Jimenes competition that has run since the 1960s and which functions as the country's main record of its own modern art. Temporary shows are ambitious. The building is airy and modern with gardens and a butterfly house, and a small cigar rolling demonstration runs on site, which is the family's nod to where the money came from.

What you actually see

• The art collection - the León Jimenes competition archive, the best in the country.
• The anthropology galleries - Taíno, African and European strands of the island.
• Temporary exhibitions - ambitious and often international.
• The gardens and butterfly house - around the building.

When to go

Year-round; closed on Mondays. Weekday mornings are quiet. Allow three hours for the permanent exhibitions alone. There is a good café and shop, which is not always the case at Dominican museums.

Honest expectations

It is in Santiago, two hours from the capital and well away from the beach resorts, so it takes a deliberate trip. Labels are largely in Spanish with partial English. The cigar demonstration is brief and promotional. Some visitors find the identity exhibition more interesting than the art and others the reverse.

Nearby

Santiago's centre is ten minutes; La Vega and Jarabacoa are within an hour.