Many visitors come to pay homage to the national hero José Martí at the quasi-religious mausoleum that was built in 1951. The mausoleum of José Martí Pérez is the most visited place in the cemetery. It keeps the ashes of the Cuban national hero that rest on a ground, consisting of a handful of soil brought from every American country.

The imposing hexagonal structure dominates the cemetery by its height of 24 meters. Its Romanesque architecture is arranged in such a way that the sun rays lighten the crypt that contains the wooden coffin through the skylights all day long. The marble and granite construction with its unique design, is guarded by three Cuban soldiers at the entrance that perform a shift-changing ceremony every 30 minutes. The national flag on his coffin and a bouquet of flowers in front of it reminds us of hero’s maxim: "Yo quiero cuando me muera, sin patria, pero sin amo, tener un mi losa un ramo de flores y una bander / I want when I die, without a fatherland, but without a master, have my slab a bouquet of flowers and a flag".

The ashes of the historical leader Fidel Castro Ruz, after being transferred to Santiago de Cuba, were retained one night in Plaza de la Revolución and then interred by a private ceremony in this cemetery on December 4, 2016. The solemn ceremony consisted of a 21-gun salute, and no speeches were done according to his will. His simple monument in the form of an enormous boulder bears a plaque with just the name Fidel. Behind this plaque, Fidel Castro's ashes are in a wooden box in a rectangular hole carved into the rock.

In 2017 the remains of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Father of the Nation, and Mariana Grajales Coello, Mother of the Nation, were interred in the central heritage area of Santa Ifigenia Cemetery, where José Martí and Fidel Castro lie. The main purpose was to bring the initiators of the liberation movement together.

Parque Ambrosio Grillo Portuondo is another notable section of the cemetery. Here is an actual size bronze statue of Pedro Perucho Figueredo Cisneros, author of the lyrics and melody of La bayamesa, a warrior march that became the Cuban national anthem. You can also read the verses of the national anthem written on a bronze plaque.