Cuba Guide
Northern Oriente
Museo del Arte Colonial
Address: Independencia no.19
Opening time: Tues & Wed 8am– noon & 1–5pm, Thurs– Sun 8am– noon, 1–5pm & 8–10pm
Price: $2CUC
The best museum in town is the Museo del Arte Colonial. The sumptuous building, beautifully lined with yellow-and-blue tiles, was built in the nineteenth century as the private residence of José Beola, a wealthy local merchant. Its interior is quietly splendid, with a narrow staircase sweeping upstairs to the fine, though small, collection of paintings. Among them is a meticulous depiction of the town in its glory days, with ships approaching a wide sweep of harbour, and majestic houses crowding the hillside beyond. Amongst the collection of colonial furniture is a spectacular bedroom suite, with a huge mirror studded with pineapples – a showy display of the family's wealth. The delicately coloured, pale pink-and-blue stained-glass windows are original to the house and the biggest in the province.