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  • Architecture: Diego Velazquez Museum

    Diego Velazquez Museum, Santiago de Cuba. Cuba

    • Destination: Santiago de Cuba
    • Open: Daily
    • Address From: Santo Tomas No. 612 e/ Aguilera y Heredia, Santiago de Cuba
    • Telephone: 5322) 652652
  • Description Architecture: Diego Velazquez Museum, Santiago de Cuba. Cuba

    It is the mansion that belonged to Diego Velazquez (Spanish conqueror, first Governor from Cuba and founder of the first seven villages in the country), built between 1516 and 1530, even maintained in spite of the time and for the recent fires to which it has been threatened. Museum House of Diego Velázquez.

    At the moment this old house works as Cuban Historical Colonial Environment's Museum, and the oldest construction in Cuba is considered, which was also House of the Indies and Foundry of the Spanish Crown. The house presents architectural and ornamental elements of notable Moorish influences, as the artisans and the lattices Windows of its balconies, with a roof of carved cedar (in their majority it had to be reconstructed after a fire).

    In the last floor was the rooms; the ground floor was the commercial part of the house, where Velazquez maintained his offices and in somewhere around this floor horse carriages were kept too. The museum aspires to looks like the styles and the times of the colonial life, it seen through its building of the XVI and XIX centuries. It will find some French, British, Spaniards and Cuban magnificent furniture; Spanish ceramics; carved trunks; and French porcelain. Some dressing rooms have extraordinary designs and decorations, the proof of the wealth that the colonial bourgeoisie in Cuba of that time got.

    Nowadays it has a second house out the back, blue and white painted. It has an attractive patio that is not part of the original house of Velazquez.

  • Diego Velazquez Museum Map

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  • To view all Architecture in Santiago de Cuba then click here .
  • To view all Architecture in Cuba then click here .
  • Diego Velazquez Museum is located in Santiago de Cuba

  • It limits to the north with the province of Holguín; to the west with Granma; to the south with the Caribbean Sea, and to the east with the province of Guantánamo. The province covers a total area of 6 343 21 , Km². You can get here through Antonio Maceo International Airport, also by road from any other part of Cuba, or by sea ─in this last case, requesting the services from Punta Gorda Marina.

    Two particular features characterizes Santiago de Cuba that make it exceptional: its hospitality, with people of happy and relaxed temperament and its rich historical-cultural wealth. Its Caribbean identity is evident in its popular music and in folklore manifestations. It depicts the title of Heroine City of the Republic of Cuba for the role carried out by its inhabitants in the revolutionary struggle during the decade of 1950. Privileged by its historical past, in Santiago de Cuba there are two of the Cuban places distinguished by UNESCO with the title of World Heritage: the San Pedro de la Roca Castle and the ruins of the first French coffee plantations in La Gran Piedra. The Santa Ifigenia cemetery , the 26 of July Historical Museum and the Siboney Farm, are places indissolubly linked to the history of Cuba.

    Cayo Granma and Baconao Park (Biosphere Reserve) also part of the attractiveness of this region. As a tourist destination, Santiago de Cuba, combines excellent possibilities for the enjoyment of beaches, city and nature tourism for to the places of interest in those three scenarios.

    For those who arrive in Santiago de Cuba, there are diverse lodging options in the city and in its surroundings, linked as much to the sea as to nature. With a variety of categories and levels of comfort, it will always be a guarantee for the visitors looking for harmony and soothing rest. There are other things, among so many, that make people from Santiago proud: to be the birthplace, par excellence, of almost all the musical genres of Cuba, a country where the music is soul and root; also, the carnivals that every month of July take place here, are the most spectacular in the country; as well as their rum, the well-known Fiestas del Fuego and the already traditional Festival of the Caribbean.

    The region of Santiago de Cuba has the necessary infrastructure to encourage tourism of events and congresses; it also has in its mountainous and seafaring environment the conditions to develop nature and adventure tourism, trekking, nautical activities, and health tourism. But there is nothing better than walk its undulating and narrow streets loaded with history and music at the same time.

  • Reviews
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  • birdsofafeather1
    Review about Architecture: Diego Velazquez Museum
    Awfull Awfull
    965zwf

    “rather someting to visit in spain ”
    it is better too visit a place like this in Spain than in Cuba.I dont understan that all touroperators go to this place,with remembers the nasty colonial history of Cuba.

  • birdsofafeather1
    Review about Architecture: Diego Velazquez Museum
    Awfull Average
    Rebanai

    “Visit to Museum ”
    There is not a lot I can say about this museum except that those of us interested in the history of Cuba enjoyed it.

  • birdsofafeather1
    Review about Architecture: Diego Velazquez Museum
    Awfull Very good
    Peter R

    “Worth a visit ”
    I think this is the oldest building in Santiago, dating back to C16 and certainly a good tour with enthusiastic guide with good english. What I did object to was the charge of 5 CUC (not just here but for each museum you go to) to take photos, My advice is save 5 CUC and look on google images!

  • birdsofafeather1
    Review about Architecture: Diego Velazquez Museum
    Awfull Very good
    RBCFlorida

    “interesting tour through the centuries ”
    Just a few days ago, I enjoyed a brief tour with an English-language guide through the Diego Velazquez museum in Santiago. The residence, originally built beginning around 1515, has been largely reconstructed. Nevertheless, the museum contain furniture and artifacts from each generation of the house's existence. The tourist entrance fee is $2.00 CUC.

  • birdsofafeather1
    Review about Architecture: Diego Velazquez Museum
    Awfull Very good
    PaulM2305

    “A Well-Spent Half Hour in Central Santiago ”
    This was one of the most impressive historic buildings we visited in Cuba and is well worth visiting if in Central Santiago. It is conviently located on Parque Cespedes (allowing for good hassle-free photos of the Square from its windows) and its interior has been very well maintained. We enjoyed the private "tour" offered by the sweet elderly lady upstairs... More 

  • birdsofafeather1
    Review about Architecture: Diego Velazquez Museum
    Awfull Excellent
    gandhy2014

    “The oldest house in Cuba ”
    During my second visit in 2009 I visited this remarkable architectonic building and historical museum, conceptuated as the ?oldest house in Cuba? (and maybe in America), that still stand. The structure is very well preserved with all the architecturals codes of the XVI century. If there is no mistake in the records, the house was constructed between 1516 and 1530;... More 

  • birdsofafeather1
    Review about Architecture: Diego Velazquez Museum
    Awfull Excellent
    GreyNomad2014

    “Melt down your gold here! ”
    Many old items and paintings, including a few charred ones that caught fire when a candle set the place alight (I don't recall when that happened), but I loved seeing the old oven there that was used for melting down the booty that the Spanish had collected from Mexico and made into gold ingots before transferring them to ships headed... More 

  • birdsofafeather1
    Review about Architecture: Diego Velazquez Museum
    Awfull Excellent
    JessHertfordshire

    “Wonderful Museum ”
    We were very lucky to have a private visit to this museum by the Curator. He made it come to life for us. It is the oldest building in Santiago de Cuba and it houses antiques from each period of history in beautiful rooms. It has to be one of the most fascinating museums I have ever visited. Don't miss... More 

  • birdsofafeather1
    Review about Architecture: Diego Velazquez Museum
    Awfull Excellent
    gingrannie

    “excellent historical attaction ”
    In depth tour with a very knowledgeable guide who took us through the formation of the house and history of this city and area.

  • birdsofafeather1
    Review about Architecture: Diego Velazquez Museum
    Awfull Excellent
    Stephanie B

    “Awe-inspiring ”
    If old stuff thrills you, this will give you goosebumps. The house is 500 years old, and some say it's the oldest home in Latin America. Metre-thick walls, carved ceilings, and a sense of solidity and dignity that give you an idea of the wealth and power of the Spanish empire in that era. (We were interested to learn that... More