The Museum

The eclectic-style building shows the Moorish influence and the evolution of domestic architecture in the province of Pinar del Río. It is one of the few buildings in the city that uses limestone. Despite the modifications suffered in its more than 100 years of existence, it retains the peaceful colonial air of the time of its conception. A large paneled door with a shutter characterizes the entrance to the reception hall.

In the Archeology Room, objects related to the existence of the indigenous people who lived in this region are exhibited. Visitors can see what people could do with stones and seashells. Also, earrings made from seashells and fish vertebrae are exhibited. Also, the secondary burial is highlighted. Secondary burial is a burial, cremation, or inhumation that is dug into a pre‐existing barrow or grave any time after its initial construction.

The History Room shows the economic, political and social evolution of Pinar del Río from the colonial period to the 1940s. Exhibited objects such as the sugar thumb molds (the only complete examples from the 19th century in the territory), the molding boards for making tobacco, different types of snuffboxes, the cigar guillotines, a coffee grinder , tiles from old French coffee plantations, Yucatán and Creole metates (a flat or slightly hollowed oblong stone on which materials such as grain and cocoa are ground using a smaller stone), among others, show the presence of Spanish and French in the most important economic sectors such as tobacco, sugar and coffee at that time.

Objects related with the system of slavery in Vuelta Bajo can also be seen like the abusive shackles, and pieces related to marooning, such as dungeon machetes, clay pots, combs, among others, which were very abundant in the hills of Vuelta Bajo.

Additionally, you can see a collection of miniature bottles with samples of the main productions of the legendary Guayabita del Pinar, a drink unique to Vuelta Bajo created by Lucio Garay Zabala in 1892.

A collection of weapons used in the war in Pinar del Rio in 1895, the oil portraits of the first three provincial governors of the republican period and objects that were in the Government office such as a tobacco book and a bar book are on display.

There are also objects that reflect the founding of the Communist Party in the territory, Pinar del Río's participation in the Spanish Civil War and the repression and punishment used by the police and the rural guard during the 1930s and 1940s.

In the Ambient Room a living room and dining room are recreated to reflect the lifestyle of the middle class in Pinar del Río during the 1940s and 1950s. In Pinar del Río, living room and dining room furniture was used only for its utilitarian value, since the purchasing power of the wealthy class in the province did not allow the transport of sumptuous style furniture. Therefore, the most commonly used furniture was that of the Spanish and Italian Renaissance, which was made from precious woods, straw and leather. The exhibition is completed with porcelain, crystal and oil paintings.

In the Decorative Arts Room, a wide collection of glass of different types and colors, porcelain objects, a beautiful collection of wall plates, trays decorated with the wings of butterflies are displayed which are of great artistic value. Oil paintings by Pinar del Rio artists such as Pedro Pablo Oliva Rodríguez and Tiburcio Lorenzo Sanchez are noteworthy, but particularly the last canvas of the Cuban painter Domingo Ramos, known as the Pintor del Valle de Viñales stands out. The table given to the Marquises of Pinar del Río attracts the attention of the visitor due to its marquetry work. Also on display are a Louis XV style living room set and a French Empire dining room set.

The Pinar del Río Creators Room exhibits pieces belonging to prominent musicians from the region, such as the piano and a set of wicker furniture from the house of the composer Pedro Junco Redondas, author of the world-famous song “Nosotros”, as well as a violin and other personal items of the creator of Cha Cha Chá, Enrique Jorrín, and the costume worn by the major singer Miguelito Cuní, among others.