222 Best Sights in Cuba

One of Baracoa's three fortresses, Fuerte Matachín, was completed in 1802. Today it houses the Museo Histórico Matachín, whose displays discuss the city's history, including its Taíno roots. There are examples of Taíno pottery, sculpture, and other artifacts; exhibits on famous citizens; and displays explaining the community's role in the wars for independence and the Revolution.

Once a small sugar and tobacco center, Guanabacoa is inhabited primarily by the descendents of slaves who worked the fields here. Though the town, which is full of colonial treasures, is now part of sprawling Havana, its old Afro-Cuban traditions and religions have been kept alive.

Once the property of the Hershey chocolate barons, Cuba's first electric railway was built in 1917 to haul sugarcane and workers to the sugar refinery. Now the quaint electric engine slowly pulls three passenger cars with wooden benches to a picturesque station in Matanzas, making many stops along the way. The ride usually takes about three to four hours to travel 95 km (60 miles). It's an interesting trip, but you can't be on a tight schedule, because the train isn't always on time and sometimes doesn't even get from Havana to Matanzas on the same day. The best train to take is the 12:21 pm train from the Casablanca station in Havana, or the 12:09 from Matanzas, but always check the most current schedule first. You buy the tickets on the train.

On the eastern edge of Plaza de San Juan de Dios, the old hospital now holds the offices of several cultural organizations. In the portico of its large garden, you'll find a simple museum with exhibits on the building's history, some old photos, and surgical instruments from days of yore—thank goodness for modern medicine. It's worth a quick look if you have a curiosity for the history of medicine. More interesting is the view from the roof.

The restored exterior of this 18th-century Baroque church dedicated to Our Lady of Solitude leads to its well-preserved interior. Thick, square columns rise into high arches decorated with lovely floral frescoes, above which is a mudejar wooden ceiling with ornate carved beams. According to legend, a statue of the Virgin fell from a wagon at this spot in the late 1600s; seeing it as a sign from heaven, the locals built a hermitage for it, which was later replaced by this church, completed in 1776.

The squat colonial structure with a massive bell tower on the plaza's eastern end is the Church of St. John the Baptist. Its splendidly restored 18th-century interior (head for the back door, as the main doors are usually shut) includes high arches, an elaborate beamed cedar ceiling, and gilt-wood altars. Although its stone floor dates from 1550, most of the chapel was rebuilt in 1752; it underwent extensive renovation in the 1940s, including the construction of a new main altar using parts of the original Baroque altar. The smaller altar to the right is dedicated to the Virgen de la Caridad, Cuba's patron saint. The gilt shrines along the walls are dedicated to various saints; note the pregnant Virgin, brought from Seville in the 1700s, to the left of the main door.

Camagüey's oldest church was built in 1728 to replace the original (1686) St. John's. It underwent some structural changes in 1847 and an extensive restoration in 1986. Its simple, traditional interior has a terra-cotta floor, white-stucco walls, and a sloped wooden ceiling. Four ancient hardwood altars stand along the walls, each of them dedicated to a different saint—St. John's is the second on the left. The main altar is dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and is unique in that the Holy Spirit is represented as a man instead of as the usual dove.

This architecturally eclectic church was built in 1870 by architect Daniel Delaglio, who also designed the city's emblematic Teatro Sauto. The church's Neoclassical symmetry is broken by a jumble of towers, turrets, domes, and cupolas. The bright yellow interior has rich, fluted columns behind the main altar.

Havana's oldest church (circa 1638) was built by Afro-Cubans who were brought to the island as slaves but who later bought their freedom, a common phenomenon in Cuba. Fittingly, today it's the only church in the city authorized to grant political asylum. Its interior has several notable paintings; notice especially the representation of a seated, post-Crucifixion Christ on the right wall. The crypt under the left of the altar contains catacombs. The three-story belfry to the left of the church is one of La Habana Vieja's tallest towers.

This prim little white church is a required visit for literature buffs hot on the trail of scenes from the novel by Cirilo Villaverde (1812–94), Cecilia Valdés (o la Loma del Angel). The novel's bloody denouement takes place on the steps here during a marriage scene straight out of Racine. A plaque on a wall across from the church door lauds Villaverde's portrait of 19th-century Cuban life. Villaverde, in fact, made literary history with the stark social realism with which he portrayed the inhuman treatment of slaves in his novel. (One scene, for example, depicts plantation owners complaining bitterly about their foreman whipping slaves so early in the morning that the screaming and the crack of the lash disturbs their morning slumber.) The neo-Gothic church is, indeed, on La Loma del Angel (The Hillside of the Angel). With its pure, vertical lines, it's markedly different from La Habana Vieja's hulking Baroque structures. Originally erected in 1690 and rebuilt in 1866, Santo Angel del Custodio was the site of the baptisms of both José Martí and Félix Varela, the priest, patriot, and educator credited with having "first taught Cubans to think." Martí, Varela, and Villaverde were all key contributors to the cause of Cuban independence.

Built in 1680, the starkly beautiful Iglesia Parroquial Mayor del Espíritu Santo is one of Cuba's oldest and best-preserved churches. Its massive bell tower is visible from much of Sancti Spíritus, and though its interior is sparsely decorated—a carved wooden ceiling and a blue-and-gold wooden arch framing a simple altar—it's extremely well preserved.

Although originally founded in 1640 as the Ermita de Nuestra Señora del Buen Viaje, the present church was built in 1755. The advocation to the buen viaje (good voyage) was a result of its popularity among seafarers in need of a patron and a place to pray for protection. The Baroque facade is notable for the simplicity of its twin hexagonal towers and the deep flaring arch in its entryway. Traditionally the final stop on the Vía Crucis (Way of the Cross) held during Lent, the church and its plaza have an intimate and informal charm. This is the plaza where Graham Greene's character Wormold (the vacuum-cleaner salesman/secret agent) is "swallowed up among the pimps and lottery sellers of the Havana noon" in Our Man in Havana.

Don't miss the view from the corner of Amargura: you can see straight down Villegas to the dome of the old Palacio Presidencial (Presidential Palace).

Although it was begun in 1755, this church and convent complex wasn't completed until the 19th century. Hence you can clearly see a progression of architectural styles, particularly in the facade, with its six starchy-white pillars and its combination of late-Baroque and early-Neoclassical elements. Inside are numerous works by 19th-century Cuban painters.

Built on the site of the pre-Revolutionary Country Club of Havana, which was so exclusive that dictator Fulgencio Batista was denied a membership, the ISA is the country's top art school, with separate pavilions for dance, art, music, and drama. Considered Cuba's best example of post-Revolutionary architecture, its redbrick halls and pavilions are covered with Catalan vaults and cupola skylights. From the 800 students in 39 specialties have come some of Cuba's finest artists and musicians. Zaida del Río studied here, as did Emmy-winner Chucho Valdés. Many of the little trios performing all around Havana have ISA students in their ranks.

South of Playa Larga, on the east side of the Bay of Pigs, lies this natural aquarium in a 61-meter-deep (201-foot-deep) cenote (a flooded sinkhole filled with multicolor fish that swim in from the bay via a subterranean passage). Diving through the banks of fish and the lush subaquatic vegetation is superb. There is no entrance fee—you walk along a short, shaded trail to the pool and dive in. There's a makeshift, on-site dive shop with tanks, as well as snorkeling gear to rent. If you plan on doing a lot of snorkeling and care about hygiene, bring along your own mask. You can also snorkel from the beach, across the road from the entrance to the cenote. La Casa del Pescador

(see Where to Eat, below)

is next to the cenote.

In the sugar country outside Manzanillo this farm is where poet, patriot, and cane farmer Carlos Manuel de Céspedes freed his slaves and called for rebellion against Spain. There's a large monument at the entrance to the estate, and you can see the bell used by Céspedes to summon his slaves to freedom. The Museo Histórico La Demajagua, in Céspedes's former home, displays documents, photos, and other artifacts.

According to legend, Taíno aboriginals dumped gold and other loot in this lake to hide it from the Spanish. No treasure has ever been found, although Taíno relics have been recovered from the lake and are now displayed in the Museo Guamá. The museum is part of an impressive replica of a Taíno village on an island, complete with 32 life-size figures of Taínos going about their daily business, created by Cuban sculptor Rita Longa. The lake is stocked with largemouth bass for visiting fishermen who stay in the cabins dotted around the lake. Access to the museum is by boat, leaving from the Criadero de Cocodrilos dock. The outboard motorboats, some with sunshades, travel 4 km (2½ miles) along a canal into the lagoon. The boat trip takes about 30 minutes and costs CUC$12, including entrance to the museum. The first boat leaves at 9 am and the last one at 4 pm.

Although the city's cathedral was consecrated in 1892, the building took the better part of the 19th century to complete (it was built to replace the 17th-century church that was destroyed by a hurricane). Don't let the rather bleak exterior (or limited hours) deter you from stepping inside; its interesting interior is replete with a dozen hardwood altars that date from the early 20th century and various colonial icons.

Local people usually refer to the cathedral as the Parroquial Mayor (major parish).

Cojímar would merit a visit even without its literary significance as home of La Terraza. From the opening curaçao—a frozen daiquirí made with a blue bitter-orange liqueur—and majuas (tiny deep-fried fish) through the ranchito de mariscos (fish, lobster, and shrimp stewed in tomato, onion, and peppers), everything is very good here. The graceful mahogany bar dangerously dignifies the act of drinking, and the Hemingway memorabilia aren't overdone.

Made famous by Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders, San Juan Hill marks the sight of the decisive July 1, 1898 battle in the Spanish-American War. (The conflict is known here as the Guerra hispano-cubano-norteamericana, or Spanish-Cuban-American War.) Today it's a park, in the Reparto San Juan neighborhood, covered by monuments left by U.S. and Cuban militaries, dedicated to the battle fought here during the Spanish-American War. It's a lovely spot, with amusements for small children in the Parque de Diversiones—identifiable by its large Ferris wheel—at the base of the hill.

To the south of the old part of town, Calle 37 runs parallel to the waterfront Malecón, where locals stroll at night. Note the illuminated billboard near the Malecón; it has an image of revered Cuban singer Benny Moré and a line from one of his songs: "Cienfuegos es la ciudad que más me gusta a mi" ("Cienfuegos is the city I like most"). The palm-lined promenade stretches south to Punta Gorda, a point dominated by the mansions once owned by sugar barons and ending in a small park surrounded by water where people gather on weekends to swim and relax.

This site of an 18th-century farmhouse once belonged to one of the region's wealthiest families. It stands next to the Torre de Iznaga, a 43-meter (141-foot) tower built in the early 1800s. Legend has it that the two Iznaga sons were in love with a beautiful young woman, and their father told one to build a tower and the other to dig a well, with the promise that whoever built higher or dug deeper could have her. But when they were done, both the tower and well were 43 meters, so the old man married the woman himself. The tower actually had a much more practical purpose: it was a place from which to keep an eye on the thousands of slaves who worked the surrounding plantations. The large bell that was rung when slaves tried to escape lies on the ground near the farmhouse.

A glass enclosure behind the Museo de la Revolución shelters the Granma, the yacht that transported Castro and 81 guerrillas back to Cuba from exile in Mexico in 1956. Bought from an American, the 38-foot craft designed to carry 25 (presumably unarmed) passengers nearly foundered during the week-long crossing. It eventually ran aground at Oriente Province in Eastern Cuba, but it was two days behind schedule. The saga gets worse: Castro's forces were ambushed and only 16 survived, including Fidel, Che, Raúl Castro, and Camilo Cienfuegos. The park around the yacht is filled with military curios: tanks, jeeps, the delivery truck used in the 1957 assault on the Palacio Presidencial, and an airplane turbine, allegedly from a U-2 spy plane downed during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

In between Santa María and Boca Ciega, you'll find a lively sweep of white sand, proudly flying the rainbow flag. This is Playas del Este gay beach, full of buffed beach bodies, sun beds, and a party-like atmosphere. Most hotels in the surrounding area are also gay-friendly. Amenities: food and drink; water sports. Best for: partiers.

To reach the Monumento Celia, a monument to revolutionary hero Celia Sánchez, a longtime confidante of Fidel Castro, you climb a beautiful staircase lined with Moorish-style residences.

This bronze equestrian monument honors the great military leader of Cuba's 19th-century wars of independence. It was erected in 1935 in modern Havana's most pivotal location—in an important traffic circle and at the entrance to the tunnel leading to the fortresses across the harbor. The Dominican-born General Gómez led the mambises (a term used by the Spanish for Cuban rebels) in the Ten Years War, refused to surrender when an unsatisfactory treaty was signed in 1878, left the island, and returned with José Martí almost 20 years later to continue the fight in the 1895 Second War of Independence. Martí died in the opening battle; fellow general Antonio Maceo fell in December of 1895, but Gómez survived.

Across the massive rock face of Mogote Dos Hermanas, Diego Rivera disciple Leovigildo González (or the 25 farmers he directed) painted this immense—200 x 300 meters (660 x 990 feet)—luridly colored mural of prehistoric men and creatures, between 1959 and 1962. Commissioned by Fidel Castro, the painting is supposed to depict the evolutionary process in the Sierra de los Órganos.

No need to pay the entrance fee; you can see it just as well from the road.