The neoclassical architecture of the Municipal History Museum is an impressive sight among the other important buildings around Trinidad’s Plaza Mayor. View this mansion, the Palacio Cantero, on a walking tour of the city and step inside the museum to examine the riches amassed during the prior owner’s prominent position as a sugar baron.
Using forced slave labour, colonialists built one of the world’s largest areas of sugar production in the Valle de los Ingenios just east of Trinidad. With their large profits, they built palatial mansions in Trinidad and furnished them with the finest goods. Appreciate the quality of the Italian marble and the open and airy design of the spacious villa.
Be sure to tour the inside of the museum to explore items of sumptuous wealth and historical significance. Dr. Justo Cantero, a slave trader and sugar baron, imported French Sèvres vases and Baccarat crystal, English porcelain and Italian marble statues. Furniture with mother-of-pearl inlays and fine embroidered lace complete the luxurious interior.
Trinidad and the sugar-producing valley are part of a UNESCO heritage site. The museum includes maps and documents related to the long era of sugar production, with some reference to the slave trade upon which its success depended. Look for information on Cuba’s wars of independence as well.
Before you leave, climb a narrow spiral staircase to the top of the tower to look down upon the terracotta roofs of Trinidad and beyond toward the beautiful blue waters of the Caribbean Sea and the lush green region that was once filled with sugar cane.
There is a fee to visit the Municipal History Museum, which is open daily except Friday. To avoid crowds, arrive early before tour buses stop at this popular site. Allow time to tour some of the other buildings around Plaza Mayor and plan a trip to Valle de los Ingenios to see the sugar mills that provided the funds to create these beautiful structures.
