Study Tour Fellow Reports

We woke up this morning in Playa Ancon (Ancon Beach), located a short ride to the center of Trinidad. One of the seven settlements established by Diego Velázquez, the town initially thrived off of gold and although this quickly dried up, Trinidad enjoyed a prosperous past as a port city. Like many other cities in Cuba, Trinidad enjoyed a surge in prosperity with the development of sugar cultivation in the surrounding area.



On our morning walking tour of the city we first passed through a landscaped square. You could feel the city waking up as people bustled through the square to work, or met up with friends to converse. 

In the early 20^th century nobody thought much of Trinidad and since the port had silted up in the mid-19^th century poverty had ensured that the urban landscape did not change. With the neo-colonial movement in the 1930s people started paying attention to Trinidad as an architecturally important site and its preservation history is as old and robust as that of Old Havana. In fact, Trinidad is celebrated as Cuba’s most fully preserved early colonial town.

Houses in Trinidad have two common characteristics: tall windows protected by wooden rejas, or grills, and decoratively carved roof rafters that appear on the outside of the structure under the eaves.





We made our way to the Plaza Mayor, which used to be the Plaza de Armas but now boasts 20^th century landscaping. There we viewed the exterior of many buildings, including the 1894 Iglesia Parroquial de la Santisima Trinidad (Church of the Holy Trinity). Built on the site of an earlier church that was destroyed in a storm, the current church has a rather austere façade.

On an adjacent side of the square is Casa Sánchez Iznaga (House of Sánche Iznaga), which was home to families of the same name who were sugar barons in the area. The Sánchez Iznaga family owned the nearby Manaca Iznaga sugar estates. Built in 1710, but with additions made as late as the 19^th century, the structure now houses the Museum of Architecture, which is part a museum of detailed explanation of architectural history in Cuba and part house museum. The central room one enters into in the house shows how the house may have appeared in the 19^th century. It contains a chandelier from France, flooring and a center table made from Italian marble, and Meissen porcelain, but the ceiling is undeniably Cuban. Beautifully carved roof trusses such as these are a characteristic of colonial architecture throughout the island, some of which were painted. Other parts of the house contained the modern amenities the family enjoyed in the 19^th century, such as a gas lighting system, flush toilet, and shower.

After lunch in Trinidad we set off for Valle de los Ingenios (Valley of the Sugar Mills). This was one of the first in Cuba to be cultivated for sugar in the late 17^th century, partly due to the very rich soil and easy access to slaves because of Trinidad’s trade connections to Jamaica. Sugar production was later industrialized and the Valley is now scattered with the remains of sugar plantations, some in better shape than others. We first tried to visit Hacienda Buena Vista, which Monty had visited in the past. It has suffered so much deterioration that we had a hard time even locating it, and then could not visit due to an impossible road for our bus. However, Monty shared good news that this site is slated for restoration. We did visit Manaca Iznaga, the sugar plantation run by the same family who owned the home that now houses the Museum of Architecture. One of the most architecturally interesting features of this estate was the large tower that was used to oversee the activities on the estate. In this way, overseers could keep track of slaves and their labor and better coordinate the movement of cut cane, and movement of goods to and from the railroad. 

In the afternoon we made a quick stop in Sancti Spiritus, another of the seven settlements of Diego Velázquez. On the way in to the town we passed fields of garlic and onions, and Osmin informed us that Sancti Spiritus is famous throughout the island for its onions of incomparable flavor. We admired Parroquial Mayor del Espiritu Santo (High Church of the Holy Spirit), a 17^th century church, and then moved on to Plaza Central (Central Square), though the aspect of our visit to Sancti Spiritus that left the strongest impression on me was our walk up the main commercial street. Although the vegetable market was closed (we all wanted to see one), it was great experience to move through the streets with all of the locals who were out shopping, conducting business, or hanging out with friends.

Many people have asked me what cities I found to be the highlights of the trip. Although I enjoyed every one of them, it was not hard for me to come up with a “Top 3” list. Without a doubt, Havana is at the top of this list for me and Camagüey also holds another spot. I think I loved Camagëy so much for a number of reasons. The first is the friendliness of everyone I met there. I had read that Camagüey is considered by many to be “the most Cuban of Cuban cities.” Not quite sure what this meant, I asked the driver of a bicycle taxi and after thinking for a moment he confirmed my observations, that perhaps it is because camagueyanos are friendlier and enjoy life more than people in any other city. The second reason is that we just came from Trinidad, a city that, while beautifully preserved, is now very touristy and lots of inhabitants work their hardest to make some money off of the tourists that pass through. In Camagüey it was easy to just enjoy the city, and a very clean city at that! And finally, and this has little to do with the city itself, my experience of the city was enhanced by how we saw it, by taking a bicycle taxi tour of the city! A horde of bicycle taxis gathered around the corner of our hotel, and two by two we mounted our transportation. We whizzed through the streets, the drivers joking and laughing with one another and jockeying for position in a playful manner, even when they were battling an incline.

Our taxis took us to many stops, one of which was the Parque Agramonte (named after a local hero of the wars of independence) where we entered the Catedral de Nuestra Senora de Candelaria Santa Iglesia (Cathedral of Our Lady of Holy Candelmas). Older church structures existed in this space and over time parts have been added and subtracted to result in the church that stands today. Its current form is heavily indebted to an enlargement in 1864. The interior of the church was breathtaking, with ceilings painted in a beautiful Art Nouveau pattern.

Like Trinidad, many of the colonial houses in Camagüey have tall windows with grills and decoratively carved roof rafters.







After we left Trinidad we made a short stop in Bayamo, yet another of the seven settlements of Diego Velázquez. Our visit was focused on the main town square and the next square over, which contains the Catedral del Santisima Salvador (Cathedral of the Holy Savior). Constructed in 1869, this church also contains a chapel from 1630. One of the most interesting features of the church is its painted decoration. The church contains a series of paintings that show the importance of the church in the wars of independence. One depicts a historical scene of the father of the church blessing the first Cuban flag during the wars of independence.

Our last stop of the day was quite an adventure, and surely no other group except an SAH Study Tour puts this on their itinerary! We drove slowly through small towns and climbed higher into the mountains. The looks from the people on the street confirmed that we were definitely off of the normal tourist path. Our destination was the Forestry Research Station, designed by Walter Betancourt and built 1969-1971. Monty talked about Betancourt before we arrived and told us how this Cuban-born architect studied in the U.S. and turned down a position at Taliesin West to return to Cuba to build for the Revolution. We were prepared for some Frank Lloyd Wright influence, but I think were all surprised by the extent of it when we reached the site. 





After this we traveled on to Santiago de Cuba, arriving under the cover of darkness and wondering what sort of city would be reveled to us in daylight.