Curious About Cuba: The Great Museums of Havana

"Curious About Cuba" shows a side that we seldom hear about:

her art, history, and culture

Produced for Public Television by Great Museums TV

In the Moncada barracks in Santiago de Cuba is now the Museo Histórico 26 de Julio located

The Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba, are named after General Guillermón Moncada, a hero of the War of Independence

On July 26, 1953, there was an armed attack by a small group of revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro

This armed attack is widely accepted as the beginning of

the Cuban Revolution

The date on which the attack took place, July 26, was adopted by Castro as the name for his revolutionary movement “Movimiento 26 Julio or M 26-7”

which eventually toppled the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1959

The attack failed and 55 attackers, including Abel Santamaría, were arrested, tortured and murdered by Batista 's forces

Castro and a few others escaped to the nearby mountains but were arrested

Castro 's capture was soon known everywhere and a process was inevitable

Fidel, himself a lawyer, conducted his own defense and that of his companions in the historical argument  "Historia me absolvera" (" History will absolve me")

The group was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on Isla de Pinos,

now Isla de la Juventud

February 1955 Batista won fraudulent elections and as a sign of reconciliation, he freed a number of political prisoners, including the Castristen group

Castro fled to Mexico almost immediately but Frank Pais remained in Santiago de Cuba to organize underground resistance

Nowadays, a school is located in the Moncada barracks and the

Museo Histórico 26 de Julio

In ten rooms, the Cuban history is explained in detail

Objects, photos and newspaper articles attest to the preparations for the attack on the Moncada barracks, the events themselves

and their consequences

Museo de Ambiente Historico Cubano or "Casa Diego Velasques" in Santiago de Cuba is one of the oldest buildings

Museo Historico Cubano Ambiente in Santiago de Cuba is also known as

"Casa de Diego Velazquez"

This building was the home of Diego Velazquez, the colonizer of Cuba

Unfortunately, the guide didn`t speak English

This beautiful building at the Parque Cespedes is distinguished from the others by its elegant loggia, which is decorated with wooden railings in

Arab-Andalusian style

The building was constructed between 1516 and 1530 and is one of the

oldest buildings in Cuba

There are still a few original features preserved as the beautiful cedar ceilings, tiling and a few sections of wall paintings

Despite the fact that we almost didn`t understand her,

she kept on talking Spanish

On the ground floor are the old colonial administrative offices to recognize by the beautiful stone arche

In the courtyard there are still remnants of an old goldsmith

The rear courtyard bordered by a neo-classical mansion of

the nineteenth century