Cuba Guide
Santiago de Cuba
Casa de las Religiones Populares
Address: Calle 13 no.206 esq. 10
Opening time: Mon– Sat 9am–6pm
Price: $2CUC with guide
Anyone interested in Cuba's idiosyncratic home-grown religions should head four blocks east to the fascinating Casa de las Religiones Populares. The collection spans the different belief systems, including Santería and voodoo, which developed in different parts of the country, each local variation shaped by the traditions of the homelands of the African slaves and all influenced by the Catholicism of the Spanish settlers. It's striking to see how Christian iconography has been fused with some of the African culture-based paraphernalia, with the animal bones, dried leaves and rag dolls presented alongside church candles, crucifixes and images of the Virgin and Child. The Christian influence is most evident in the altars bedecked with candles, flowers and photos which grieving families construct to honour their dead relatives.