Page 106 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

104  HA V ANA AREA B Y AREA

1927, and is well worth a visit 4 Universidad de
for its French Rococo-Louis XV La Habana
furnishings, as well as for the
inner gardens. Calle 27 de Noviembre (Jovellar) y
Ronda. Map 2 F2. Museo
The collection reveals the Antropológico Montané: Felipe
sophisticated and exotic Poey Bldg, Plaza Ignacio Agramonte.
tastes of the ruling classes Tel 7877 4221. Open 9am–2pm
and wealthy collectors of the Mon–Fri. Closed 1 Jan, 1 May, 26 Jul,
colonial period. Major works 10 Oct, 25 Dec.
of art here include two
paintings by Hubert Robert, The University of Havana was
The Swing and The Large founded under the auspices of
Waterfall at Tivoli, and two a papal bull in 1728 and was
17th-century bronze initially housed in the
The Art Deco building that is the sculptures in the foyer. Dominican monastery of
home of the Casa de las Américas The main hall on the St John Lateran, in the
Louis XV-style ground heart of La Habana Vieja.
2 Casa de las floor has 18th-century In 1902, a few days after
the proclamation of the
Américas Chinese vases, Meissen Cuban Republic, it was
porcelain, a large
Calle 3ra, esq. G. Map 1 C1. Tel 7838 Aubusson carpet dating transferred to the Vedado
2706, 7838 2707. Open 10am–4pm from 1722 and paintings area to a site which had
Mon–Fri. Closed 1 Jan, 1 May, 26 Jul, by French artists. been utilized as an
10 Oct, 25 Dec. ∑ casa.cult.cu A bedroom on the explosives store in the
ground floor holds a colonial period.
On the Malecón, beyond the collection of Chinese The new univer sity,
Monument to the Victims of screens, while the Chinese porcelain, Museo housed in various
the Maine (see p62), there is a Countess’s room de Artes Decorativas buildings, was built
kind of secular temple, with a bell features a secretaire between 1906 and
tower but no cross. This is the that once belonged to 1940. In front of the main
Casa de las Américas, a cultural Marie Antoinette. entrance, now the venue for
institution, which was built in Last but not least is the pink concerts, is the Alma Mater, the
just four months after the marble Art Deco bathroom, symbol of Havana University.
triumph of the Cuban Revolution. which should not be missed. This statue, of a woman with
Haydée Santa maría, one of
the heroines of the struggle,
founded the Casa with the
aim of promoting exchanges
among artists and writers on
the American continent.
The centre features Arte
Nuestra América, the most
comprehensive collection
known of Latin American
painting and graphic art from
the 1960s to the present.
3 Museo de Artes
Decorativas
Calle 17, 502. Map 2 D2. Tel 7832
0924. Open 9am–4:45pm Tue–Sat.
Closed 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 Dec. & 8
Note: fee for photography applies.
The wonderful Museum of
Decorative Arts is housed in
the former residence of one of
the wealthiest Cuban women
of the 20th century: the Countess
de Revilla de Camargo, sister of
José Gómez Mena, the owner
of the Manzana de Gómez (see
p85). The mansion was built in The Neo-Classical foyer of the Museo de Artes Decorativas
For hotels and restaurants in this area see pp257–8 and pp271–2

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