Cuba Guide
Trinidad and Sancti Spíritus
Museo de Historia Municipal
Address: On Simón Bolívar, one block southwest from Plaza Mayor
Opening time: Sat– Thurs 9am–5pm
Price: $2CUC
The Museo de Historia Municipal is another converted colonial residence. The first part of the museum follows the same format as the Museo Romántico, with various superb examples of nineteenth-century furniture conveying the everyday surroundings and living conditions of a wealthy colonial-era Trinidad family, in this case the Canteros. Born here in 1815, Justo German Cantero made his fortune in the sugar industry, more specifically as owner of the Buena Vista sugar mill; his portrait, along with that of his wife, can be found in the third room on the counter-clockwise tour of the downstairs. The first three rooms, with their well-presented colonial exhibits, make up the most well-rounded part of the museum; from here on the collection moves abruptly into a rundown of the area's history. Though there are some interesting objects scattered about, like a gramophone from the early twentieth century, the museum never really gets going and runs out of exhibits too quickly. Don't leave, however, without heading upstairs, where a spiral staircase leads up into a tower providing some great views, including a classic snapshot of the plaza.