With a population just over a half million, Santiago was founded a year earlier (1514) than Havana, and traces of that long history can be found in a small but fine old quarter with cobblestone streets, anchored by Céspedes Park, where you´ll find the classically Baroque Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, the first in Cuba (the current structure dating back to 1555 after the original burned down). Across from it on the other side of the park, the Diego Velázquez House was the residence of the island’s first governor; reckoned to be the oldest home still standing in the Americas, it’s now a museum of the life and times of colonial Cuba. Speaking of museums, Cuba’s first (1899) is the handsome, neoclassical Emilio Bacardí Moreau Museum, an interesting mixed bag of archaeology, Cuban art, and the country’s pre-Communist history.
Read more in our post Welcome to Santiago, Cuba´s Second City.
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