Casa de Lombillo

This resplendent casa (house) is one of Habana’s oldest, dating from 1741, although there has been a building on this site since 1618. Named after one of its 18th-century owners, the count of Lombillo, who made his fortune in the slave trade, the building is most notable for its exquisite interior balconies and stately Tuscan-style columns. During the mid-19th century the palace served as Habana’s main post office (it was the city’s first), and a stone-mask mailbox in one of the outside walls is still in use. In late 2000, the Casa de Lombillo was gutted and restored. It now functions as the main office for the city historian, Eusebio Leal Spengler.