Cuba - Lonely Planet [308]
There’s been a church on the site of the Iglesia Parroquial Mayor de San Salvador since 1514. The current edifice dates from 1740 and the section known as the Capilla de la Dolorosa (donations accepted; 9am-noon & 3-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-noon Sat) was another building to survive the 1869 fire. A highlight of the main church is the central arch, which exhibits a mural depicting the blessing of the Cuban flag in front of the revolutionary army on October 20, 1868. Outside, Plaza del Himno Nacional is where the Cuban national anthem, ‘La Bayamesa,’ was sung for the first time in 1868.
A forerunner of the national anthem, co-written by Céspedes (and also, confusingly, called ‘La Bayamesa’) was first sung from the Ventana de Luz Vázquez (Céspedes btwn Figueredo & Luz Vázquez) on March 27, 1851. A memorial plaque has been emblazoned onto the wall next to the wood-barred colonial window.
Next door is the Casa de Estrada Palma (Céspedes No 158), where Cuba’s first postindependence president, Tomás Estrada Palma, was born in 1835. A one-time friend of José Martí, Estrada Palma was disgraced after the Revolution for his perceived complicity with the US over the Platt Amendment. His birth house is now the seat of Uneac (Unión Nacional de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba; National Union of Cuban Writers and Artists), but you’ll find little about the famous former occupant inside.
The Torre de San Juan Evangelista (cnr José Martí & Amado Estévez) is to the southeast. A church dating from Bayamo’s earliest years stood at this busy intersection until it was destroyed in the great fire of 1869. Later, the church’s tower served as the entrance to the first cemetery in Cuba, which closed in 1919. The cemetery was demolished in 1940, but the tower survived. A monument to local poet José Joaquín Palma (1844–1911) stands in the park diagonally across the street from the tower, and beside the tower is a bronze statue of Francisco Vicente Aguilera (1821–77), who led the independence struggle in Bayamo.
Not far away, just off the main road, is the Museo Ñico López (Abihail González; admission CUC$1; 8am-noon & 2-5:30pm Tue-Sat, 9am-noon Sun) in the former officers’ club of the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes military barracks. On July 26, 1953, this garrison was attacked by 25 revolutionaries in tandem with the assault on Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba in order to prevent reinforcements from being sent. Though a failure, Ñico López, who led the Bayamo attack, escaped to Guatemala, and he was the first Cuban to befriend Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara in 1954. López was killed shortly after the Granma landed in 1956.
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ASK A LOCAL
Take a state-run horse and cart ride (CUC$4) on an untouristy 45-minute tour of the city with verbal explanations about the sights. Afterwards you can stroll along pedestrianized Calle General García and around Parque Céspedes.
Eddy, Bayamo
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Bayamo’s main shopping street, Calle General García (also known as Paseo Bayamés) was pedestrianized and reconfigured with funky murals in the late 1990s. It’s a great place to catch the nuances of city life. Halfway along its course you’ll find the tiny Museo de Cera ( 42-65-25; General García No 261; admission CUC$1; 9am-noon & 1-5pm Mon-Fri, 2-9pm Sat, 9am-noon Sun), Bayamo’s version of Madame Tussaud’s, with convincing waxworks of personalities such as Polo Montañez, Benny Moré and local hero Carlos Puebla. Next door is an equally tiny Museo de Arqueología (cnr General García & General Lora; admission CUC$1).
Activities
The Cubans love chess, and nowhere more so than in Bayamo. Check out the streetside chess aficionados who