History as Told by the Houses

When walking through the city of Holguin, you can encounter the history told by its buildings, as is the case of “La casa azul” (the Blue House) located across from the “Calixto Garcia” Park.

This house was lived first by Jose Romero Medina, from the Canaries, and his wife. Victoriana de Avila y Gonzalez de Rivera - the benefactor of Holguin- who got married on January 24, 1798.

Don Jose Romero Medina was a wealthy man from the Canaries, who had established himself in the city, and Doña Victoriana was the eldest daughter of the Mayor, Don Diego de Avila and Doña Catalina Gonzalez de Rivera, descendant of the colonizer captain Garcia Holguin, founder of this city.

In the testament made by the married couple in 1817, they declared among their property: "Primarily this house of tiles and masonry where we live, built in Plaza de Armas, the Royal Plaza, with the corresponding site all built up …"

In 1824 they changed their testament declaring that they have moved to Gibara and that in addition to other properties, they had a house located in the Royal Plaza in San Isidoro Street, with a haberdasher in charge of Mr Francisco Antonio de la Carrera.

Since then, this building became a clothes shop. Despite having had numerous owners over the years, it has maintained its architectural features, such as columns, corridors and tile roofs.