Page 71 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

LA HABANA VIE JA  69

2 Museo de seminary has now moved to
Arte Colonial a new home in Guanabacoa,
and the old seminary building
Calle San Ignacio 61. Map 4 E2. contains a Catholic cultural
Tel 7862 4458. Open 9:30am–5pm centre, Centro Cultural
Tue–Sun. & 8 Note: fee for Católico de La Habana.
photography may apply.
This 18th-century mansion,
built by Don Luis Chacón, 4 La Bodeguita
governor of Cuba, has been
the home of a fascinating del Medio
museum dedicated to colonial Calle Empedrado 207. Map 4 E2. Tel
art since 1969. The building is 7867 1374. Open noon–midnight daily.
a fine example of a colonial
residence and is constructed Standing exactly at the halfway
around an elegant courtyard. point in a typical small street
The 12 rooms on the ground in old Havana, a few steps
floor and first floor contain Colonial furniture in the Museo de away from the Cathedral, La
furniture, chandeliers, porcelain Arte Colonial Bodeguita del Medio (literally,
and other decorative pieces “little shop in the middle”) has
from various 18th–19th-century There is also an old portal become a big attraction.
middle-class and aris to cratic on Calle San Ignacio, built The place was founded in
houses in Havana, in which in the Churrigueresque style 1942 as a food shop. A bar
European, Creole and colonial which was common in Spain serving alcoholic drinks was
traditions are combined. and her colonies in this period. added, and the place became
Besides a remarkable collection The large central courtyard a haunt for intellectuals, artists
of furniture made of tropical is the only one of its kind in and politicians. Today it is no
wood, the museum has an Cuba: it has gal leries on longer a shop but a bustling bar
exceptional collection three levels, the at the front serving shots of rum
of stained-glass first with simple and Cuban cocktails and a good
windows (medio ­ columns, the restaurant hidden in the back
punto), typical second with offering typical Creole dishes.
of Cuba’s double The walls are plastered with
Creole crafts- Museo de Arte Colonial: an arched columns, photographs, drawings, graffiti
men (see p29). mediopunto window and the third and visitors’ autographs,
There is also a with plain including those of famous
thirteenth room where exhi- wooden piers. patrons such as the singer Nat
bitions of contemporary art The lavishly decorated King Cole, poets Pablo Neruda
and crafts inspired by colonial inner stairway leading to the and Nicolás Guillén, and the
art are held. During the week first floor has trapezoidal writers Gabriel García Marquez,
the museum organizes tours motifs instead of the more Alejo Carpentier (see p33), and
for school children and leisure common arch, and fine black Ernest Hemingway, who was
activities for the elderly in mahogany banisters. The a regular here.
the area.
3 Seminario de
San Carlos y
San Ambrosio
Tacón e/ Chacón y Mercaderes . Map
4 E2. Tel 7862 6989. Open 9am–4pm
Mon–Sat (courtyard only). Closed
1 Jan, 26 Jul, 10 Oct, 25 Dec.
This building was erected by
the Jesuits in the mid-18th
century to house a seminary
first founded in 1689. Famous
Cuban patriots and intellectuals
studied here. One of them was
Padre Félix Varela (1788–1853),
who laid down the theoretical
bases for the Cuban war of
indepen dence (see p32). La Bodeguita del Medio with its memento-covered walls

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