Page 195 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

TRINID AD  193

Trinidad: Around Plaza Mayor

Walking along the streets leading from Plaza Mayor is a
fascinating experience even if you have no particular
destination. A slow stroll allows time to observe the detail
of a window, a small balcony, the irregular cobblestones, or
the cannons used as bollards. The centre is more or less free
of traffic. In the evening the houses glow in the warm hues
of sunset, and music fills the streets: the Casa de la Trova
(see p187) and Casa de la Música (see p186) put on daily
concerts by local bands.

Cantero, renaming The river cobblestones (chinas pelonas)
the mansion and used in Trinidad’s streets
transforming it into
a sumptuous Neo- E Iglesia y Convento de
Classical residence. San Francisco
The building is now Calle Hernández Echerri, esq. Guinart.
the Museo Histórico Museo de la Lucha contra Bandidos:
Municipal. Tel (41) 994 121. Open 9am–5pm
From the grand daily. & 8
entrance hall, with This elegant church was built in
frescoed arches, 1813 by Franciscan monks, but it
the route takes in was taken from them in 1848 in
the dining room, order for it to be used as a parish
the kitchen, the court- church. In 1895 the authorities
yard and an area for transformed the building into
domestic servants. a garrison for the Spanish army.
The history of Then in 1922, because of the
Trinidad can be traced lamentable state of the place,
through exhibits, the garrison and part of the
maps, and monu- church were demolished. Only
The frescoed entrance hall in Palacio Cantero and ments related to the bell tower was salvaged,
its Italian marble floor different themes: the along with adjacent buildings,
Cantero family, piracy, which were used as a school
E Casa de la Cultura Julio the plantations in the Valle de until 1984, when the complex
Cuevas Díaz los Ingenios, the slave trade and became the home of the Museo
Calle Zerquera 406. Tel (41) 994 308. the wars of independence. The de la Lucha contra Bandidos.
Open 8am–10pm daily. tower has a viewing platform The museum illustrates with
During the day, the vestibule is and a rickety staircase that documents, photographs and
used as exhibition space by climbs past fresco-covered walls. exhibits the struggle against
local artists (some of whom also the “bandits”, the counter-
have their studios here), selling Plazuela del Jigüe revolutionaries who fled to
their paintings. In the evening, This peaceful little square is rich the Sierra del Escambray after
performances are held in the in history (see p186). El Jigüe 1959. Fragments of a U2 plane,
rear courtyard: theatre, dance, restaurant is housed in a lovely a boat, a militia truck and
concerts and shows for children. porticoed building decorated weapons are displayed in
with panels of painted tiles. the building’s cloister.
E Palacio Cantero (Museo
Histórico Municipal)
Calle Bolívar 423. Tel (41) 994 460.
Open 9am–5pm Mon–Thu & every
other Sat. & Note: fee for
photography may apply.
This 1830s mansion, which
belonged originally to Don Borrell
y Padrón – one of the major
figures in local sugar production –
was purchased in 1841 by María
de Monserrate Fernández, the
widow of a sugar magnate. A year
later she married the landowner Bell tower of Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp261–2 and pp274–5

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