Havana Museum of the Revolution (Museo de la Revolución)
The Havana Museum of the Revolution is the most important of the three hundred museums of the Island of Liberty. It is housed in the building of the former presidential palace. The museum halls display about 9,000 exhibits about the Cuban Revolution, and among them there are quite rare ones. The main exposition deals with the events that took place in Cuba in the 1950s-1960s.
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In front of the Museum of Revolution in Havana stands a Russian SU-100 self-propelled cannon. Under a glass ceiling behind the building is the yacht Granma. It was on it that the participants of the revolution led by Fidel Castro arrived in Cuba in 1956. Nearby you can see missiles. During the Caribbean crisis they were used to shoot down the U.S. spy plane “Lockheed U-2”. Nearby lie the mangled engines of an American airplane.
Video: Museum of the Revolution in Havana
Museum building and exhibits
The former government palace was designed by Belgian Paul Belau and Cuban architect Carlos Maruri in 1920. For 30 years, the palace was used by Cuba’s first officials. After the victory of the revolution, the building was reconstructed and housed a museum.
The palace has not retained the Tiffany stained glass lights and exterior wrought ironwork. However, inside one can see large mirrors and beautiful glass chandeliers from the time of the announcer Fulgencio Batista.
The Museum of the Revolution in Havana has 38 rooms. Many visitors like the spacious presidential office, where the interiors and decoration of the 1940s have been preserved. The attention of tourists is attracted by the magnificent Hall of Mirrors, for which the Hall of Mirrors of 17th-century Versailles was used as a prototype.
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On the marble staircase of the museum are visible bullet potholes left by the assassination attempt on Batista in March 1957. A small tractor converted into a tank is also on display here, along with wax figures that depict Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos during the battle.
The Museum of the Revolution boasts a spacesuit that belonged to the first Cuban to go into space, Arnaldo Tamayo Mendez, and the golden telephone of dictator Batista. The museum halls display Fidel Castro’s personal belongings. In addition, strands of Che Guevara’s hair, and items of clothing in which the famous revolutionary died, are kept here.
.During the tour, tourists are told about the struggle of the Cuban people against the Spanish colonizers, the pre-revolutionary and revolutionary history of Cuba. Visitors can watch a documentary about the Cuban Revolution and learn how Cuban society lives in the 21st century.
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Near the entrance to the Museum of the Revolution in Havana hangs a caricature of U.S. President George W. Bush wearing a Nazi helmet on his head. In text in several languages, the American president is ironically thanked for making socialism in Cuba everlasting.
The Museum of the Revolution in Havana is open weekends from 9:30 to 16:00. In guidebooks on the Cuban capital, visiting the museum is declared as free, but without money tourists are allowed only on the threshold, and they can see the entrance to the interior. Ticket prices are not published anywhere, but it is known that entry to the museum is inexpensive.
.How to get there
The Havana Museum of the Revolution is located in the heart of Cuba’s capital, on Avenida Bélgica. Just ask any cab driver for a ride to the “presidential palace” or to the “Museum of the Revolution.”
