Sights in Bayamo
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A
Torre Desan Juan Evangelista
The Torre de San Juan Evangelista 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.
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Iglesia Parroquial Mayor de San Salvador
The Iglesia Parroquial Mayor de San Salvador, is where the national anthem was first sung, in 1868. The plaque on the facade lists the orchestra members and their instruments in that famous debut, giving you an idea of how deep the cultural patrimony runs here. A mural painted at the front of the church in 1919 depicts the blessing of the flag by Céspedes on October 20, 1868. The only part of the building that survived the great fire of 1869, when retreating revolutionaries set fire to the town, is the striking Capilla de la Dolorosa. The chapel's main altar and the statue of the Virgen de los Dolores date from 1740.
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Museo Ñico López
The Museo Ñico López is 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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D
Parque Céspedes
Parque Céspedes, one of Cuba's leafiest and most hassle-free squares, is an attractive smorgasbord of grand monuments and big, shady trees. There's a bronze statue of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, hero of the First War of Independence, and a marble bust of Perucho Figueredo, with the words of the Cuban national anthem carved upon it. Marble benches and friendly Bayameses (Bayamo citizens) make this a nice place to linger. In 1868 Céspedes proclaimed Cuba's independence in front of the Ayuntamiento (city hall) on the east side of the square.
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E
Casa de Estrada Palma
In 1835, Cuba’s first postindependence president, Tomás Estrada Palma, was born here. 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.
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Casa Natal de Carlos Manuel de Céspedes
The birthplace of the ‘father of the motherlands,’ Casa Natal de Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, is on the north side of the park. Born here on April 18, 1819, Céspedes spent the first 12 years of his life in this residence, and the Céspedes memorabilia inside is complemented by a collection of period furniture. It’s notable architecturally as the only two-story colonial house remaining in Bayamo and was one of the few buildings to survive the 1869 fire.
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Ventana de Luz Vázquez
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 on March 27, 1851. A memorial plaque has been emblazoned onto the wall next to the wood-barred colonial window.
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Museo de Cera
The tiny Museo de Cera, Bayamo’s version of Madame Tussaud’s, has convincing waxworks of personalities such as Polo Montañez, Benny Moré and local hero Carlos Puebla. Next door is an equally tiny Museo de Arqueología.
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Museo Provincial
The Museo Provincial has a yellowing city document dating from 1567 and a rare photo of Bayamo immediately after the fire.
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