The Palacio de Aldama is considered the most valuable architectural work that was built in Havana during the 19th century.

HISTORY

At the end of 1838 the wealthy landowner, Basque Domingo Aldama y Aréchaga, the sugar baron, bought the land of the Sociedad de Pagés y Barón that was extramural, in an area called Champ de Mars, opposite to the old Campo de Marte, today Parque de la Fraternidad, to build a mansion for both of his children Miguel and Rosa Aldama, as the plot was in a prime localization. The splendid building was built by the Dominican architect and engineer Manuel José Carrera as two adjacent houses in 1840, but the fine works of the mansion were completed in 1844. The total amount that was necessary for the construction of the mansion, reached one million pesos. In a short time the mansion became one of the main centers of social activities of the Havana aristocracy.

Miguel Aldama Alfonso was a defender of the separation of the island from Spain as an autonomous country. He refused even the title of Marquis. Therefore, he was recognized as the enemy of Spain and a conspirator. In 1869, volunteers and mobs that aimed at Hispanicization of the island, assaulted the Palacio de Aldama under the pretext that the owners concealed weapons for the Cuban insurgents, but they could not find anything else than the collection consisting of the ancient weapons. They looted the house and destroyed the books, the crystal chandeliers, the furniture, the tapestries, the sculptures and all that what have artistic value.  The family Aldama did not delay in leaving the Island. Miguel Aldama Alfonso assumed the direction of the General Agency of the Republic of Cuba in Arms in New York during the Ten Years’ War. When Domingo Aldama y Aréchaga died in 1870, the Spanish government applied to court to confiscate the assets of Aldama. The trial lasted for 6 years and ended with the decision in favor of the government in 1876. During the judicial process the heirs Miguel Aldamo and Leonard Aldama were nonjoindered, as they were accused of treason and sentenced in their absence.  When the Ten Years’ War finished and the the Zanjón Pact was signed in 1878, they were reinstated their rights, but they never stayed in their mansion. Miguel Aldama continued his work in the US as an activist for Cuban independence until his death. When he died in 1888, the mansion was sold at an auction in 1889.

The new owners of the palace installed the tobacco company La Corona in the building that fell into the hands of the English company, the Habana Cigar and Tabaco Factories Limited, the same year. The bulding suffered several modifications until the company was closed due to the strike of the tobacco workers in 1932. Each of the occupants tried to adapt the building to its new functions, so that a third floor was added to the building and two houses were joined in one.

In 1949 the Palacio de Aldama was declared the National Monument to rescue the building from the danger of demolition. In 1946 the banker Pablo González de Mendoza invested more than 2 million pesos in its restoration that was completed in 1947, and installed the office of the Banco Hipotecario Mendoza in the building that was nationalized in 1960. The restoration was undertaken by the architects José María Bens Arrarte and Gustavo Botet. The palace was handed over to the Academia de Ciencias de Cuba in 1965, and then to the Instituto de Etnología y Folklore in 1968 that served here until 1973. In 1974 the building was occupied by the headquarters of the Institute of History of the Communist Movement and the Socialist Revolution of Cuba. Finally, it became the Instituto de Historia de Cuba in 1974 until today 

ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES

The magnificient building is in neoclassical in the majority, but it contains also some predominant Baroque elements, like the arches of the exterior porch that overlooks the Amistad street. It was built with ashlar stones.

It was build as two separate houses with two floors (the ground floor and the mezzanine); however, in 1926 a third floor was added to the building, so that it acquired the traditional structure of upper floor, mezzanine and the ground floor. The third floor that deformed the original proportions, was demolished in 1971, when the Instituto de Etnología y Folklore was serving in the building. Both the houses communicate harmoniously inside, as if they were a single building, because in 1930 these two houses were merged into one single house.

It has two beautiful sober facades with wide balconies. The door on the Calzada de la Reina (current Simón Bolívar street) gives access to the house where Domingo Aldama y Aréchaga and his son Miguel lived, whereas the entrance on the opposite end of the building gives access to the house, where his daughter Rosa that was married with the illustrious intellectuel Domingo del Monte, lived. The high portals cover two floors, the ground floor and the mezzanine.

Its lateral portico on the Amistad street, composed of 16 massive Doric columns, extends for 56 meters. The capitals of the columns are holding a beautiful entablature of the same style. The ionic pilasters that alternate with the windows are predominant on the ground floor.

INTERIOR OF THE BUILDING

At present, the Palace de Aldama is under restoration. It is surrounded by tin panels and isn't open to visitors. Thus, the information given about the interior of the Palace de Aldama below, bases on the descriptions written before and made by the persons that witnessed the glorious period of the mansion. It is unknown to which extent the interior of the mansion will look like the original after the restoration.

It is possible to pass from one house to the other one. Each house has wide courtyard with abundant vegetation and fountain. In contrary to the courtyards of the 18th century, they are not surrounded by galleries. The bedroom, the dining room, the offices, the service rooms, all are spacious. It should be remembered that the dining room had been designed to accomodate more than a hundred people in each of its banquets. 

It has a wide Carrera marble central staircase with luxurious balustrades and bronze ornaments that have a unique design. The interior of the palace is distinguished with its magnificent ceiling with Pompeian paintings. During the assault they were partly destroyed, but they were restored by the artist Ángel Bello to their originals during the restoration process. The carpentry is composed of cedar of the island. The floor is paved with marble.