There is a spacious backyard behind the building. Once there was a stable, as at the time of the inauguration of the Presidential Palace the use of the cars was not so widespread in Cuba. A huge Cuban flag is covering one of the inner-facade of the building overlooking the patio. Crossing this backyard and leaving the building through the back door (south door), you will reach the Granma Memorial.

The area between the Presidential Palace and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, bordered by the Avenida del Belgíca, the Trocadero and the Agromonte streets, is occupied by Granma Memorial that was built on the plot of the former Zayas park that was inaugurated in honor of the President Alfredo Zayas (1921-1925) during the last years of his administration.

The Granma Memorial project was entrusted to the Cuban architect Eduardo Losada León.

In the Granma Memorial along with the famous boat, there are several historical pieces that have a value from the aspect of the revolution, but could not be on display in the building of the Museo de la Revolución because of their big size. This part of the museum was organized and inaugurated in 1976. The ticket price of the museum covers also the visit of this place.

The 19-meters long Granma yacht, built in 1943, is enclosed in a structure, made of glass and steel. The entire roof of the glass and steel structure is composed of hexagons that are inspired by the plumes of the royal palms, the Cuban national tree, that you may see in close vicinity. Likewise, the columns that support the hexagons, imitate the trunks of these trees.

The visitors have to take the iron staircase to watch the yacht at a whole; unfortunately, it is not so easy to see the whole boat behind the glass due to the shining of the glass enclosure and the frequent metal bars. The historical yacht that had a load capacity of 20 persons, carried 82 rebels, including Fidel Castro, Ernesto Che Guevara and Raúl Castro from Tuxpán, Mexico, to Cuba in 1956. This was its third voyage to Cuba. The rebels disembarked on a beach (Playa Colorados) close to Santiago de Cuba to initiate the guerilla struggle on the Sierra Maestra mountains. The relic was placed into the glass structure in 1976, in the 20th year of this event that was one of the milestones of the revolutionary movement in the island, and thus, the Granma Memorial was inaugurated a few months later in the same year.

Another 14 large pieces, such as vehicles, airplanes, tractors, jeeps etc., that are associated with the revolution, are scattered around the Pabellón Granma.

The two tractors on the display were converted into armored vehicles to take part in the invasion of the rebels to the western part of the island, headed by Camilo Cienfuegos and Ernesto Che Guevara. The traces of the combat can be seen on the tractor Dragon 1.

The delivery truck used in the transportation of the rebels that realized the assault on the Presidential Palace in 1957, is also exhibited in the area along with a car and some jeeps.

The Pontiac model car was used by the Popular Socialist Party (PSP) to transport the weapons from Havana to the war in Las Villas province. Those weapons were used by the forces of the PSP, headed by Félix Torres, against the troops of Batista.

Nearby there are three jeeps. The Toyota model jeep was used by Raúl Casro Ruz at the second east front, the so-called Frank Pais front, in 1958. The Willy model jeep was used by Juan Almeida Bosque at the third east front, the so-called Mario Muňoz Monroy front, and was seized by Batista’s troops.  The Land Rover model jeep was used by Fidel Castro Ruz in 1958. Several bullet impacts can be seen on the jeep.

Two aircrafts are located in the area of the Granma Memorial. The first one is a King Fisher, made in USA. It belonged to the army of Batista and was seized by the rebels, while making a forced landing at the territory of the second east front in 1958. It became the first airplane of the Rebel Air Force, and it was used in fighting missions against La Maya garrison and enemy fronts in Sagua de Tánamo.

The other is a Seafury, made in England. It was used in several fighting missions during the Playa Girón (Bay of Pigs) battle in 1961.

Other than the intact aircrafts exhibited, there is also the remains of the American bomber B-26 that was shot down by the Cuban anti-aircraft defense system during the Playa Girón battle in 1961. The corpse of the US pilot stayed for almost 19 years in Cuba, as the US didn’t admit its role in the action against Cuba, and thus, didn’t make any official request to transport the corpse to its homeland. Upon the official request, the corpse was returned to US in 1979.

The tank on the display is a Russian tank T-34, the same series with the historical tank in front of the museum.

The speedboat, the so-called the Lancha Pirata, was used to carry the mercenaries and the weapons from the ship to the Cuban shore during the Playa Girón battle in 1961.

The next pieces exhibited in the memorial, are the turbine, remained from the spy plane U-2, that was piloted by Rudolf Anderson Jr., commander in the US Arforce, and shot down while violating the Cuban air space for an espionage mission during the so-called October crisis in 1962, and the ramp launch (La Rampa de Lanzamiento) from that the rocket was fired that shot down this US spy plane.

The tour of the Granma Memorial is completed with the visit of the Monument of the Gloria Eternal a los Héroes de Patria Nueva (Eternal Glory to the Heroes of the New Homeland) that was dedicated to all the heroes and martyrs that fell throughout the building of an independent Cuba.  Its flame that implies that the revolution will continue forever, was lit by Fidel Castro in 1989.  The design of the monument belongs to the Cuban architect Eduardo Losado.