The Museo de Naipes occupies the ground floor of the oldest building of the Plaza Vieja. In the 17th century there was a primitive house made of guano in the place of the building that we call Casa Marqués de Prado Ameno today. In 1664, its owner Pedro Alegre replaced it by a building made of tiles, as it was a general trend to eradicate this type of houses in the central zones of the town. In 1719 it was sold to Juana María de Acosta, widow of the Treasurer Don Santiago de Arrate, and mother of the notable historian Don José Martín Félix de Arrate y Acosta. José Martín Félix de Arrate is considered the first Cuban historian.

At the beginning of 19th century the upper floor of the building was rented to a café by demolishing some of the inner walls. In 1925 the building underwent a restoration in which the spiral staircase was replaced by a concrete staircase, the upper and lower floors were subdivided, and the sanitary services were built. Later, a popular ice cream parlor El Anón (the Anonyme) was opened on the ground floor that was ran by Chinese people. After the revolution the ground floor was used as stall and warehouse, whereas the upper floor was shared by several families.

After a restoration that was sponsored by the Spanish foundation, the Fundación Diego de Sagredo, and carried out under the patronage of the last Marqués de Prado Ameno and under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture of Spain, the Museo de Naipes “Marqués de Prado Ameno” was inaugurated on the ground floor of the building as part of the restoration project of the Old Havana in 2001. The upper floor is used by 3 families as residence.

The objectives of the Museo de Naipes are to raise awareness about the negative aspects of the table games, such as playing the card game, among the Cuban families, and to stimulate people’s interest in collecting of objects.

The museum presents miscellaneous collections of playing cards with different patterns from around the globe (Spain, Germany, France, Austria, China, Poland, Japan, USA, Belgium etc.). Decks of the playing cards are categorized according their themes, such as history, art, architecture, heritage sites, monuments, comic, kids, sports etc., and neatly laid out in display cases, so that they offer a different view of the decks that are displayed as active cultural elements, capable of reflecting the history, customs, geography, art and the humor. The museum’s collections consist of 1869 pieces, manufactured in the late 19th and in the early 20th centuries. Most of them are the donation of the Fundación Diego de Sagredo. It is worth to mention also its former director Javier de Cárdenas that donated a part of his personal collection to the museum.

In the rooms you will find decks, including the Tarot cards, postcards, engravings and some cinema posters. The collection of the playing cards include the playing cards with cartoons of well-known actors, playing cards from Japan and Russia, playing cards that caricature the Hollywood stars, such as Sean Connery and Robin Williams, and some historical personalities, such as Adolf Hitler and Franklin Roosevelt, playing cards made by a prisoner to overcome his boredom, playing cards decorated with the artistic nudes of some great masters, such as Rubens and Caravaggio, playing cards decorated with the modern art works of some notable artists, such as Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and Joan Miró, and a valuable copy of the Cuban cards from the early 20th century, made in Germany with standard drawings of Spanish style, that on their back announce the brewery La Tropical.

It is said that The Museo de Naipes “Marqués de Prado Ameno” is one of only seven of its kind in the whole world.

The Museo de Naipes offers guided visits and specialized consultations. The museum has a small conference room where workshops, conferences and meetings on the subject related to postcards are held. It is possible also to buy playing cards with any motif here.