Page 180 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

178  CUBA REGION B Y REGION

9 Santa Clara

Founded on 15 July 1689 by a group of inhabitants from
Remedios (see p181), who had moved away from the coast
to escape from pirate raids, Santa Clara was for centuries
the capital of the province of Las Villas, which included the
present-day provinces of Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus and
Villa Clara. One important historical event has made Santa
Clara famous: in 1958 it was here that the last battle of the
guerrilla war led by Che Guevara took place, the battle which
marked the end of Batista’s dictatorship. Santa Clara is now The Teatro La Caridad, where Enrico
Caruso performed
known as “the city of the heroic guerrilla”. Today, it is a
lively, urbane city and has several interesting sights. additional services – a barber
shop, ball room and gambling
room, café and restaurant –
with the aim of collecting
money to be given to the poor
in the city (hence its name,
Charity Theatre).
The building has a simple,
linear façade, in contrast to the
ornate interior, with its profusion
of chandeliers and painted
panels and a stage with all kinds
of mechanical gadgets and
draped curtains. The auditorium
itself, which has three tiers of
boxes with wrought-iron
balusters, had folding seats in
the stalls right from the start –
Santa Clara’s well-tended main square, Parque Leoncio Vidal something completely new
in Cuba at the time.
Parque Leoncio Vidal partly off limits to black people, Perhaps the best feature of
The heart of the city, this who could only walk along the theatre is the frescoed
charming square with its certain areas of the pavement. ceiling, executed by the
pristine flower beds, wrought- Spanish-Philippine painter
iron benches and period street P Teatro La Caridad Camilo Salaya, representing
lamps has retained its original Parque Vidal 3. Tel (42) 205 548. the allegorical figures of
1925 atmosphere. Built to a design by the Genius, History and Fame.
An obelisk stands here. engineer Herminio Leiva y
It was commissioned by the Aguilera for the heiress Martha E Museo de Artes
rich heiress Martha Abreu de Abreu de Estévez, this theatre Decorativas
Estévez in honour of two priests, was inaugurated in 1885 and Calle Martha Abreu, esq. Luis Estévez
Juan de Conyedo and Hurtado restored from 2009 to 2010. Tel (42) 205 368. Open 9am–6pm
de Mendoza. The heiress also The theatre offered many Mon, Wed & Thu, 1–10pm Fri & Sat,
financed the construction of the 6–10pm Sun. & 8
Teatro de la Caridad, the town’s The excellent Decorative
first four public bathhouses, the Arts Museum, housed in a
astronomical observatory, the building dating from 1810,
electricity station, a hospital contains 17th-, 18th-, 19th-
and a fire station. and 20th-century furniture,
There is also a bust of as well as furnishings and
Leoncio Vidal, a colonel in the paintings that belonged to
national independence army leading local families.
who died in battle in 1896, Among the objects on display
here in this square. The park is here, those donated by the
also home to a fountain, and a Cuban poetess Dulce María
sculpture entitled Niño de la Loynaz (see p33) are particularly
Bota (child in boots), purchased elegant and delightful: five
by mail order from the J L Mott fans, eleven sculptures and
Company, an art dealer in New An antique vase in a hall in the Museo de two Sèvres porcelain jars, the
York. Until 1894 the square was Artes Decorativas largest of their kind in Cuba.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp259–60 and pp273–4

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