Cuba Guide
Cienfuegos and Villa Clara
Parque Vidal
Address: Central Santa Clara
Declared a national monument in 1996, Parque Vidal is the geographical, social and commercial nucleus of Santa Clara. A spacious, traditional, pedestrianized and always crowded town square, it exudes a bustling, vivacious atmosphere. Weekends are particularly animated, with live music performances on the central bandstand in the evenings, and on the porch of the ornate Casa de la Cultura.
The square's attractive core, a paved circular promenade laced with its own diverse plantlife, from towering palms to small, shrub-peppered lawns, is traversed by shoppers and workers throughout the day and, in the evenings, fills up with young and old alike; kids hide behind trees and race around the promenade, while their elders stick to the benches, and the park hums with chatter. The scene is elegantly framed by a mixture of predominantly colonial and neocolonial buildings, the more modern Santa Clara Libre hotel being the most obvious exception. The grandest of the lot is the Palacio Provincial, once the seat of the local government and now home to the Biblioteca José Martí, on the northeastern face of the square. Built between 1904 and 1912, its wide facade, featuring two bold porticoes, stands out as the square's most classically Greek architecture. Ask at reception and a guide will take you round and explain the history of the building for a small tip. There are occasional live musical performances in the fabulous concert room – check the board at the entrance for details.