(On with the Countdown: 355 Days to Go) The City Hall’s History and Architecture
Once Diego Velázquez had founded Santiago Village, the next endeavor was the creation of the City Hall, the entity in charge of local government, as the base for political and administrative unity, so a location was chosen for such important activities.
Main Square was the location of choice, as it was very central and gathered buildings that represented the colonial rule. The Excelencias Group wants you to take a closer look at the building where the City Hall is based.
The municipal institution has witnessed the whole historic development of the city, as well as its basic purposes of analyzing, discussing and making decisions that have an impact in the life of its citizens.
During the 18th century, it was a two-story colonial-styled building that, along with government functions, also included a public prison, the governor’s house, etc.
In the 19th century the edification was characterized by neoclassic codes. There were two levels at the beginning, but continuous earthquakes damaged the second floor, so it stood in the 1950 decade as a one-story construction characterized by classic figurative elements.
The new Municipal Palace of Santiago de Cuba represented the final product of a contest organized on January 31, 1951, by the City Hall in order to have a building worth of its economic and historic importance.
This carefully conceived project was the brilliant work of Dr. Francisco Prat Puig and architects Eduardo Cañas and Raúl Macías.
Meeting the requirements of the contest, the new building would follow the style of Santiago’s true colonial architecture, so the work was based on an original project created back in 1783 to build the City Hall, the age of the flowering of purely Cuban architecture.
The construction of the headquarters of the Municipal Government was finished, according to the plans, on October 18, 1954, when it was inaugurated.
The building features the spaciousness and comfort required by the municipal government of such a city as Santiago de Cuba. Its rectangular base perfectly fits the typography and dimensions of the terrain, so it represents the colonial age with an O-shaped level surrounding an inner yard. The open space and beauty of stories favor a nice climate in the building. The central well recalls an ancient colonial yard.
The halls have not only been distributed according to functional requirements, but following the rules of the purest colonial style, with external balconies.
Apart from the functional concrete structures that have been covered by woodwork in rails, ceilings and balconies, the colonial elements respond to their original technical and ornamental purposes.
The main façade, despite of being simple, presents monumental character and hierarchy achieved by means of the presence of a central body positioned like colonial towers. Its balconies, held by solid wood corbels, reflect typical characteristics of constructions in the colonial age. Vertical timbers, turned crosspieces, roof, Spanish doors with panels and nails and windows framed by corbels and dust covers have a pretty-well defined Cuban taste.
The roofs that cover the City Hall and Council Hall remind those on the oldest house of America, which is also nestled in our city, with its beadings, semidetached braces and polychromous ornamental bows. The building stores in its halls and main spaces works of art created by remarkable local and foreign painters.
The Municipal Palace lives and participates in the busy come-and-go of its citizens. It’s part of one of the most valuable spaces of the city: Céspedes Park, the heart of Santiago de Cuba, so we’ll soon take a look at it. The City Hall hosts and develops traditional activities, such as the Flag Fiesta, every December 31, when the New Year begins with the Cuban flag flying, retreats, carnivalcomparsas and the life of its people that have always loved this timeless environment.
