The Shadows of La Escalera — Uncover the Conspiracy

Your journey begins at the Parque de la Libertad, inaugurated in 1903. This central square of Matanzas, surrounded by neoclassical buildings, was the scene of historical gatherings, including a speech by Fidel Castro in 1959. At its center stands the statue of Calixto García, a general of the Cuban War of Independence (1839-1898). On this 2-hectare area, with its fountain and marble benches imported from Italy around 1910, you collect the first clues, hidden in the patterns of the benches and the shadows cast by the statue, guiding you towards the beating heart of the Creole City.

Continue to the Teatro Sauto, built in 1863 in an Italian neoclassical style, inspired by Milan's Teatro alla Scala. This National Monument since 1978, with its 775 seats and ceiling painted by Daniele Calace, hosted the first Cuban operas. Although closed for restoration after a hurricane in 2010 and partially reopened in 2022, its facades still echo with 19th-century plots. The architectural details, facade ornaments, and hidden inscriptions reveal messages from the conspirators, inviting you to cross the Puente de la Concordia.

The Puente de la Concordia, a cast-iron bridge erected between 1879 and 1881 by the French engineer Adolfo Pichardo, is the first of its kind in Cuba. 55 meters long, it connects the banks of the Río San Juan, a silent witness to secret exchanges. Named to celebrate reconciliation after the Ten Years' War (1868-1878), it was restored in 2005 and declared a National Monument in 1998. Under its arches, you find engraved symbols, clues of passages and clandestine meetings, guiding you to the next stop: the Catedral de San Carlos Borromeo.

The Catedral de San Carlos Borromeo, built between 1871 and 1880 after the fire of the original 1693 church, was a key site for independence conspiracy masses in the 19th century. Its 40-meter bell tower and European stained-glass windows from 1880, as well as its Carrara marble altar, make it a National Monument since 1996. Within this neoclassical edifice, you decipher messages hidden in the play of light from the stained-glass windows and the altar's engravings, revealing the links between the church and the independence movements, leading you to the Palacio de Junco.

Concluding your journey in the Callejón de San Severino, a paved alley from the 18th century, you grasp the scale of the 1843 Conspiración de la Escalera and the importance of Matanzas as a candidate for UNESCO Colonial Heritage. The walls of the Casa Natal de José Jacinto Milanés, where the abolitionist poet was born in 1814, and the Palacio de Junco, a private house from 1788 linked to the Creole independence elite, have revealed the secrets of slave uprisings. You have followed in the footsteps of Plácido and Juan Francisco Manzano, thwarting the traps of this tumultuous era, and discovered a Matanzas where history can be read on every street corner.