CubaPLUS Magazine

In the southern and central city of Cienfuegos, there is a building meant to be a home for very wealthy people, at the beginning of the 20th century, which dazzles from far away due to its size: the Palacio de Valle, converted for years into a cultural recreational center, with strong presence of the delicious gastronomy of the Pearl of the South.

It is located on a kind of tongue of land called Punta Gorda, facing the bay, in a place that, according to local legends, has always been inhabited since colonization by Hispanic men who insisted on building homes with architectural styles of marked Moorish influence.

The Palacio de Valle was inaugurated in 1917, being a sort of emblem of a technically eclectic architecture, as it has elements of various styles such as Moorish with Gothic, Romanesque, Baroque and Mudejar influences. However, the imprint of the Mudejar predominates.

This beautiful mansion was owned by Acisclo Valle y Blanco, owner of several sugar mills, who built it from a Moorish house received as a wedding gift from his father-in-law. This kind of architectural whim by the Italian architect Juan Colli, in modern times houses a restaurant specialized in seafood dishes, offers the services of a bar with Cuban and international cocktails, at the same time that it has a museum with the history of the property and the surrounding area, to which it is linked.

Many years after its construction, more than a century ago, the current people of Cienfuegos are proud that in the materialization of the work not only artists and qualified European professionals participated, but also competent workers from the area, in the construction of the gardens, blacksmith shops and the work in precious woods added to the property.

In any case, the best materials such as Carrara marble, Hispanic blacksmithing and forging, Venetian mosaics and others were imported, since the owner's abundant capital allowed it.

Don Acisclo, however, only enjoyed his splendid residence for two years since, according to registers, he died in 1919. Although it was not his intention, he bequeathed to his countrymen, a reason for complacency.