it is better too visit a place like this in Spain than in Cuba.I dont understan that all touroperators go to this place,with remembers the nasty colonial history of Cuba.
I think this is the oldest building in Santiago, dating back to C16 and certainly a good tour with enthusiastic guide with good english. What I did object to was the charge of 5 CUC (not just here but for each museum you go to) to take photos, My advice is save 5 CUC and look on google images!
Just a few days ago, I enjoyed a brief tour with an English-language guide through the Diego Velazquez museum in Santiago. The residence, originally built beginning around 1515, has been largely reconstructed. Nevertheless, the museum contain furniture and artifacts from each generation of the house's existence. The tourist entrance fee is $2.00 CUC.
Many old items and paintings, including a few charred ones that caught fire when a candle set the place alight (I don't recall when that happened), but I loved seeing the old oven there that was used for melting down the booty that the Spanish had collected from Mexico and made into gold ingots before transferring them to ships headed for Spain, or into pirates' pockets. I was fascinated by this historical recollection even though it was of bad old days.
This old home is the Historical Colonial Environment's Museum, and the oldest construction in Cuba, Try to get a tour with the Curator so you can hear the rich history and learn about the Spanish conqueror and first ever Governor of Cuba, Diego Velazquez. The house was built between 1516 and 1530 and has survived despite numerous fires and hurricanes. The house offers an architectural and ornamental look into design back in the 14th century, especially via its windows and numerous balconies, cedar roofs. You can see the moorish influence. The Diego Velazquez museum gives the visitor a rare peek into colonial life. The original furniture from France, UK, Spain and of course, Cuba demonstrates not only the excellent taste of the owner but also just how many merchant ships with goods and wares must have visited Santiago de Cuba around that time. T
If old stuff thrills you, this will give you goosebumps. The house is 500 years old, and some say it's the oldest home in Latin America. Metre-thick walls, carved ceilings, and a sense of solidity and dignity that give you an idea of the wealth and power of the Spanish empire in that era. (We were interested to learn that a "new" extension was built about 200 years later. When Hurricane Sandy arrived a couple of years ago, it blew down a lot of buildings in Santiago, including the new wing: but the original 16th-century building survived unscathed!)
In depth tour with a very knowledgeable guide who took us through the formation of the house and history of this city and area.
Like a in number of places in Cuba you have to get past a rather plain entrance to see the gems this museum has. I starts with furniture imported from Spain. The next area features furniture made in Spain but with Cuban wood. And finally features pieces made by Cuban craftsmen with Cuban wood. A real treat if you can get the Museum Director to show you around and learn the history of the building too.
We were very lucky to have a private visit to this museum by the Curator. He made it come to life for us. It is the oldest building in Santiago de Cuba and it houses antiques from each period of history in beautiful rooms. It has to be one of the most fascinating museums I have ever visited. Don't miss it!
During my second visit in 2009 I visited this remarkable architectonic building and historical museum, conceptuated as the “oldest house in Cuba” (and maybe in America), that still stand. The structure is very well preserved with all the architecturals codes of the XVI century. If there is no mistake in the records, the house was constructed between 1516 and 1530; it was reform two hundreds years later to make it wide, and refurbished in 1965. It has two floors with many items: furnitures, arms, artworks, etc. In the central courtyard there is a machine because the spot served as a mint for coining money with the gold and silver found in Cuba or brought from other American Spanish colonies. The visitor can appreciate also an ancient kitchen and other details revealer of the daily life on those years. The house was the residence of the first Spanish governor in Cuba, Diego Velazquez de Cuellar. But the famous Hernan Cortes, conqueror of Mexico, also lived there for a time.