Parque Céspedes Any visit to the historic center of Santiago must undoubtedly start here: the main square of the city. The former Plaza de Armas in Santiago de Cuba, this square is the heart of the historic center of the city. It was renamed Céspedes after the nation’s founding father whose statue stands in the middle of the square. You’ll never find yourself alone here. You can easily be involved in a conversation or entertainment of any kind. It’s a place for socializing, relaxing, and celebrating. It’s also a wonderful place for enjoying the so typically improvised music of Santiago. The square is divided into 4 parts, each of them with its own fountain and trees. It also has sites of cultural and architectural importance.

Calle Heredia Visitors to the Céspedes Park are easily drawn along Calle Heredia, the most famous, popular and lively street in the town. Almost every single house of this street features a sign of one of the city’s passions: music, carnivals, dancing, and poetry. The street becomes the stage for amateur artists when special events are held, like the Festival del Caribe (Caribbean Festival), also known as Fiesta del Fuego (Fire Party) every year in early July. Casa de la UNEAC is another important building around the area. Traditional music can be heard in its courtyard or at Casa de La Trova, the walls of which are covered with pictures of great Cuban musicians like El Guayabero and Compay Segundo.

Balcón de Velázquez This is a spacious viewpoint, built over the site of a Spanish fortress. The picturesque area west of Céspedes Park called Tivolí neighborhood as well as great part of the bay of Santiago can be seen perfectly from here.

Casa de Diego Velázquez (Museo de Ambiente Histórico Cubano) Regarded as being the oldest building in Cuba, it was built between 1516 and 1530, as the residence of Diego Velázquez, the governor of the Island at that time. Restoration was carried out in 1965, and it now houses the Museo de Ambiente Histórico Cubano, covering the history of furniture in Cuba. It contains wonderful examples from all Colonial periods, Creole furniture dating from the 16th and 17th century. The basement has 18th-century “Luis Las Casas” furniture, a style peculiar to Cuba which combines English influences and French rococo motifs. The 19th-century section includes a dining room with stained-glass windows and French furniture.

Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Asunción The original church was built in 1555, and then rebuilt in 1666-70. Declared a national monument, the cathedral displays a mixture of styles. It has a basilica layout, with a central nave and four aisles, an apse, and a vestibule at the back. Bell towers were added in 1922, as well as some changes to the façade. The church also has a museum, Museo Eclesiástico, which has on display interesting frescoes by the Dominican friar Luis Desangles, liturgical objects, statues and an important collection of ecclesiastical music scores.

Museo Provincial Bacardí Moreau Housed in an elegant Neo-Classical building, it is the oldest museum in Cuba as well as the most eclectic one. Founded in 1828, it’s a rich source of relics dating from the Spanish conquest to the wars of independence. Objects on display range from an Egyptian mummy to mementoes of the wars of independence and works by living artists. The objects were collected and organized in the late 1800s and early 1900s by Emilio Bacardí, founder of the famous rum distillery. He was also a famous patriot and the first mayor of Santiago when Cuba became a republic. There is also an important collection of works by important 19th- and 20th-century Cuban painters. The archeology section is in the basement and includes the only Egyptian mummy in Cuba.

Carnivals in Santiago and Museo del Carnaval The roots of the “carnavales” in Santiago are religious. Since the end of the 17th century, there have been processions and festivities from June 24 to July 26 in honor of the city’s patron saint, Santiago Apostolo. At the end of the parade, the slaves were allowed to go out into the streets and sing to the accompaniment of drums, rattles and other instruments. These were the beginnings of the “comparsas”, the soul of carnivals: groups of people wearing masks or costumes, dancing to the rhythm of conga and carrying streamers, banners and farolas (brightly colored paper street lamps). Nowadays, in the second half of July the whole town celebrates. Every district takes part with at least one comparsa. Carnival here differs from the traditional Spanish model and combines many African and Franco-Haitian elements A lovely 18th-century building now houses the offices of the Carnival Commission. The museum was opened in 1983. The three rooms contain photographs with explanatory captions, chronologies, banners, musical instruments, costumes, and papier mâché masks; a well-documented survey of the carnivals held in Santiago. The courtyard is used for folk events and concerts, as well as for rehearsals by bands preparing to perform during the carnivals.

Plaza de La Revolución Located at the crossroads of three major avenues in the northeastern part of the city, the Revolution Square is a large square behind the Moncada barracks. Alberto Lezcay, a Santiago sculptor made the vast monument standing in the middle of the square in the early 1900s. It represents Antonio Maceo General, one of the most important Cuban patriots during the wars of independence, on horseback and surrounded by 23 stylized machetes. From this square starts the modern, residential part of the city, where the architecture shows a marked Soviet influence.

Cementerio de Santa Ifigenia This is the second most important cemetery in Cuba after the Necrópolis de Colon cemetery in Havana city. Originally the Latin cross layout was divided into courtyards, the most important of which were reserved for higher status personalities. Two centuries of Cuban history are evoked there. The tombs of such illustrious 19th century Cuban patriots such as José Martí, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Emilio Bacardí, Maceo’s mother, as well as the tombs of the 20th-century Cuban revolutionaries like Frank País. Tombs there are very beautiful, especially the Neo-Classical ones at the entrance, which are also the oldest.

Museo Histórico 26 de julio – Moncada Barracks Moncada was the second largest and most important garrison in Cuba by 1953. So, July 26, 1953, Fidel and 100 rebels attacked the Moncada barracks in order to obtain a large amount of weapons and start with this the Cuban revolution. At the same time, Abel Santamaría was supposed to attack the Saturnino Lora hospital, a strategic site overlooking the barracks; and Raúl Castro, the law courts building. This attack was a failure, but it helped increase the people’s awareness of the young revolutionary activity in the Island by then. Since the triumph of the Revolution, the barracks, still with bullet holes, have housed the Ciudad Escolar 26 de Julio School and part of the building houses a museum; the Museo Histórico 26 de Julio, which illustrates the history of Cuba since Columbian times, but devotes more space to the guerrilla wars of the 1950s.