Havana – Capitolio Nacional

If you know nothing about Havana, then seeing a picture of the Capitolio can be a bit confusing. It looks exactly like the Capital building in Washington. What’s it doing in the middle of Communist Cuba?

To answer that question, you have to dig a bit deeper into the history of the country. Cuba and the USA have not always been enemies. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Cuba was effectively a protectorate of the USA. It’s government was under the control of the US. A few years later, the country achieved full independence, but the government only ruled at the whim of the US government. Hence the full scale reproduction of the Capitol building in Cuba.

The original purpose of the building was to mirror the US version. It housed the Cuban Congress until the revolution. These days, it’s a museum. Of what, I’m not really sure. The state rooms are all open to tourists, but there’s no real effort to explain anything or often to put any furniture in the rooms.

The best attraction is the main foyer. After you walk up the grand staircase, you come to the area under the dome. Waiting for you, is the Republic of Cuba, expressed in sculpture form as a gigantic woman. She holds a big spear and a big sword and does not look happy! On either side, are two nicely decorated halls. Both off limits and both devoid of furniture or explanations.

The number of staff guarding the museum exceeds the number of tourists in it by about two to one. The staff are a very interesting lot. They’re just about all women, but looking at how they’re dressed, you’d think they were all about to hit the nearest disco. Their skirts resembled belts and quite a few were wearing fishnet stockings. I wasn’t sure if I was wandering around a museum or a brothel!

In addition to the debating chamber and a few other state rooms, there wasn’t much to see in the museum. The heat was also pretty bad. There’s no aircon and no windows open. It made the whole experience very sweaty and not that pleasant. I was glad to leave and get outside to the cool(er) fresh air. It was worth a look, but I won’t be going back anytime soon.