Cigars
Calle Maceo #181, Santa Clara, Villa Clara, Cuba
Tel: +53 42 202211
Santa Clara has an excellent Fábrica de Tabacos. The factory occupies a full city block and produces high-quality Montecristo, Partagas, Romeo & Julieta, Punch, and Robaina cigars. It's open Monday through Friday from 7am to noon and 1 to 4pm. A 45-minute guided tour costs $3 per person.
Across the street, there's a well-stocked shop, La Casa del Tabaco, Ron y Café La Veguita, Maceo 176-A (tel. 42/20-8952). The cigar sommelier here, Marilín Morales Bauta, is quite charming and one of the premier experts in the field.
Museo de Artes Decorativas
Marta Abreu, Santa Clara, Villa Clara, Cuba
It is located in the very core of the city, across from the beautiful Parque Vidal. It treasures excellent furniture or highly valuable artistic pieces dating back to the 18 the century. Moving along its halls allows the visitor to appreciate the development of furniture design through time.
Monumento a la Toma y Acción del Tren Blindado
Ave. Liberación, Santa Clara, Villa Clara, Cuba
Another very interesting place is site of the last battle of the Cuban revolution. The capture of the train was the decisive factor in the triumph of the revolution and it is now a major tourist attraction. Batista was on the point of sending an armored train with military supplies and soldiers to Santiago de Cuba to counter attack revolutionaries.
Che Guevara use American bulldogger to stop the train, now part of museum exposition.
The soldiers on the train surrendered quickly and the fighting for the train was soon over. There is a museum inside the wagons, shows weapons carried on train.
Museo Memorial “Ernesto Che Guevara”
Ave. de los Desfiles, Santa Clara, Villa Clara, Cuba
The Ernesto Che Guevara monument complex was declared a national monument yesterday, the 45th anniversary of Che being granted the status of a Cuban citizen.
Nilson Acosta, executive secretary of the National Monuments Commission, read the resolution approving that just initiative, which took into account the extraordinary merits of the heroic guerrilla, whose name has been given to the monument complex of a plaza, a bronze sculpture and its base and other facilities. This singular work was built in 1988 with the participation of the people.
From October 1997 to the present day, more than 1,060,000 people have visited the memorial-museum, which houses Che’s remains as well as those of his comrades who fell in Bolivia. One third of those visitors have come from the four corners of the Earth to express their admiration and pay tribute.
Ernesto Che Guevara was a revolutionary of universal stature, who became a symbol of humanism, solidarity and internationalism for the world. He was a central leader in Cuba’s war of national liberation and led the victory of the Battle of Santa Clara. Roberto López Hernández, first secretary of the Communist Party in Villa Clara, and Mercedes Piñon, the monument’s director, unveiled the plaque with the inscription of National Monument. It is located at the entrance to the museum that houses the documents, photos and other objets of historical value recounting the life and work of the legendary guerrilla.
Museo Provincial de Historia
Ciudad Escolar Abel Santamaría, Santa Clara, Villa Clara, Cuba
The visitor will be able to know all the details about the facts that took place in the final battle of the Rebel Army during the takeover of the city of Santa Clara in 1959. In its halls, we find a harmonious collection of artwork, varied documents, furniture, and other utensils from the 19th and 20th centuries
Palacio de Justicia
Monument
Carretera Central, Santa Clara, Villa Clara, Cuba
Parque Leoncio Vidal
Marta Abreu, Santa Clara, Villa Clara, Cuba
The heart of the city is the central Parque Vidal. The double-wide streets ringing the park are pedestrian-only and often crowded with locals and lovers strolling in leisurely circles.
Its history dates back to the founding of the Villa, when a square of 1 600 meters was marked out in order to build the Plaza de Armas. In the area of the present day park, bull fights, equitation competitions, plays and all kinds of games, such as cards and dice, are held. Every 15th of July, on the anniversary of the Villa’s founding, the people of Santa Clara celebrate with huge parties in this place, where there were four pine trees and almond trees marking the four cardinal points. From being the Plaza de Armas, it later became the Plaza Mayor and afterwards, Plaza Constitucional, until it was remodeled in 187l by order of the Chapter House and renamed Recreation Plaza (Plaza de Recreo). Its current name, dates back to the XIX century in honor of the deceased independent Colonel Leoncio Vidal. |
