Page 230 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

228  CUBA REGION B Y REGION

Street-by-Street: Parque Céspedes

The former Plaza de Armas in Santiago is the heart of the
city, both geographically and spiritually. Renamed Parque
Céspedes in honour of the nation’s founding father (see p48),
this square is a place for socializing, relaxing, chatting and
celebrating. At all hours of the day and night, the benches are
filled with people, young, old, women, children and visitors.
No one is alone here for long. Everyone sooner or later gets
involved in a conversation or entertainment of some kind, Casa de la Trova
because this square’s other role is as an open-air venue where Live music is performed
music – live, recorded or improvised – takes the leading role. here daily. C A L L E B A R T O L O M É M A S Ó
Restored in Neo-Classical style in 1943, the square consists
of four areas divided by lanes.

The house where the poet
José Heredia was born is a fine
18th-century building around
a leafy courtyard (p231).

C
A
L C A L L E G E N E R A L L A C R E T
L
E
H A R T M A

. Museo Emilio N N
Bacardí Moreau C A L L E H E R E D I A
The oldest museum in Cuba,
housed in an elegant Neo-
Classical building, is also the
most eclectic. Items on display
range from an Egyptian mummy
to mementos of the wars of
independence and works by
living artists (p232).
C A L L E A G U I L E R A

Hotel Casa Granda
One of Cuba’s historic hotels (see p263), Key
the Casa Granda opened in 1920. Suggested route
Graham Greene (see p91) described it in
Our Man in Havana as a hotel frequented
by spies. Its terrace overlooks the park.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp262–3 and p275

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