Casa de la Obra Pía

Habana Vieja

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One of the more muscular sights around Calle Mercaderes is this typical Havana aristocratic residence, constructed around 1648 and rebuilt in 1780. Baroque decoration, including an intricate portico made in Cádiz, Spain, covers the facade. The house today functions as a decorative-arts museum, containing a potpourri of period furniture from Chinese to French. It was one of the first structures to be rehabilitated by the City Historian in the early 1980s.

A local embroidery cooperative maintains an HQ here, and you'll spy some old Singer sewing machines not yet requisitioned by Havana's hipsters. Beware: opening hours can be temperamental.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Old graveyard, Havana; Shutterstock ID 19926790; Your name (First / Last): Josh Vogel; GL account no.: 56530; Netsuite department name: Online Design; Full Product or Project name including edition: Digital Content/Sights

    Necrópolis Cristóbal Colón

    3.27 MILES

    Havana's main cemetery (a national monument), one of the largest in the Americas, is renowned for its striking religious iconography and elaborate marble…

  • Vintage car passing modern bar nestled between dilapidated Art Nouveau buildings along the Av de Malecon.

    Malecón

    0.77 MILES

    The Malecón, Havana's evocative 7km-long sea drive, is one of the city's most soulful and quintessentially Cuban thoroughfares, and long a favored meeting…

  • Capitolio Nacional

    Capitolio Nacional

    0.64 MILES

    The incomparable Capitolio Nacional is Havana's most ambitious and grandiose building, constructed after the post-WWI boom ('Dance of the Millions')…

  • Plaza de la Catedral

    Plaza de la Catedral

    0.16 MILES

    Habana Vieja's most uniform square is a museum to Cuban baroque, with all the surrounding buildings, including the city's beguiling asymmetrical cathedral…

  • Fusterlandia

    Fusterlandia

    9.09 MILES

    Where does art go after Antoni Gaudí? For a hint, head west from central Havana to the seemingly low-key district of Jaimanitas, where artist José Fuster…

  • Plaza Vieja, bustling with restaurants and cafes in evening.

    Plaza Vieja

    0.19 MILES

    Laid out in 1559, Plaza Vieja is Havana's most architecturally eclectic square, where Cuban baroque nestles seamlessly next to Gaudí-inspired art nouveau…

  • Courtyard in National Museum of Fine Art (El Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes).

    Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

    0.45 MILES

    Spread over two campuses, the Bellas Artes is arguably the finest art gallery in the Caribbean. The Arte Cubano building contains the most comprehensive…

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Nearby Habana Vieja attractions

1. Statue of Simón Bolívar

0.02 MILES

The corner of Mercaderes and Obrapía has an international flavor, with a bronze statue of Simón Bolívar, the Latin America liberator, in a small park.

2. Casa de África

0.02 MILES

The Casa de África houses sacred objects relating to Santería, including Abakuá masks, collected by ethnographer Fernando Ortíz.

3. Maqueta de La Habana Vieja

0.03 MILES

Herein lies a 1:500 scale model of Habana Vieja, complete with an authentic soundtrack meant to replicate a day in the life of the city. It's incredibly…

4. Calle Mercaderes

0.03 MILES

Cobbled, car-free Calle Mercaderes (Merchant's Street) has been extensively restored by the Office of the City Historian and is an almost complete replica…

5. Casa de Asia

0.03 MILES

Casa de Asia exhibits a minor cache of paintings and sculpture from China and Japan.

6. Casa de México Benito Juárez

0.03 MILES

The Casa de México Benito Juárez exhibits Mexican folk art and plenty of books but not a lot on Juárez (Mexico’s first indigenous president) himself.

7. Museo de Bomberos

0.04 MILES

This museum contains antediluvian fire equipment dedicated to 19 Havana firefighters who lost their lives in an 1890 railway blaze.

8. Museo de Simón Bolívar

0.04 MILES

A diminutive museum dedicated to Latin America’s great liberator, who remains a perennial hero to most Cubans. Downstairs there are panels containing text…