Page 76 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

74  HA V ANA AREA B Y AREA

8 Palacio de los Capitanes Generales

Construction of this palace, a splendid example of Cuban Baroque
(see p28), took from 1776 to 1791. It was commissioned by the
governor Felipe Fondesviela and designed by engineer Antonio
Fernández de Trebejos y Zaldívar. The Palacio originally housed the
Chapter House and the governor’s residence as well as a house of
detention, which until 1834 occupied the west wing. The seat of
the Cuban Republic in 1902, the building became the Museo de la
Ciudad (City Museum) in 1967, but the original structure of the . Hall of Flags
sumptuous residence and political centre has not been altered. This hall contains objects
from the independence
The complex as a whole offers an overview of the history of Havana, wars, including the flag
from the remains of the old Espada cemetery and Parroquial Mayor of Céspedes (see p46).
church to mementos from the wars of independence.
The Cabildo Maces
Considered the first
major example of Cuban
goldsmithery, these maces,
by Juan Díaz (1631), are on
display in the Sala del Cabildo,
the room where local town
council meetings were held
in the governor’s palace.

. Christ of Humbleness
and Patience
Once carried through the
streets in processions, this
18th-century devotional
wooden statue is, in the fashion
of the time, naturalistically
painted with glass eyes and
real hair to increase its dramatic
impact on the faithful.
KEY
1 The White Room has on display
the escutcheons of Bourbon Spain
and the city of Havana, and is
decorated with 18th- and 19th-
century Meissen porcelain.
2 The stained-glass windows
brighten the grey of the piedra
marina, a limestone encrusted
with coral fossils.
3 The Espada Cemetery Room
has relics from the first city cemetery,
founded by Bishop Juan José Díaz de Leather Cannon
Espada in 1806. They include the tomb Taken from the Cuban independence
of the French artist Vermay (see p30). fighters by the Spanish army in 1873,
4 The portico pavement, made this makeshift weapon – a lead pipe
of china pelona, a hard, shiny stone, wrapped in horsehide – was loaded
dates from the 18th century. with whatever projectiles were at
hand, from shrapnel to stones.
For hotels and restaurants in this area see p256 and p270

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