CubaPLUS Magazine

The combination of history and nature lends a special attraction to El Paraíso Archaeological Cave Museum, located in the beautiful setting of the eastern city of Baracoa.

 Traces of the life and customs of the Taino people, the most developed among the natives that were inhabiting Cuba when the Spaniards arrived over five centuries ago, can be seen among stalactites and stalagmites in caves surrounded by the region’s exuberant vegetation with a highly endemic nature.

 In the hills near Baracoa, the first village founded on the island by Diego Velázquez in 1511, the cave, of phreatic origin, is presumed to have been formed in the Quaternary period, about two million years ago.

 The unique museum is located on a second geological terrace, called the Seboruco Terrace, and the cave system extends through three chambers that were once Taino burial chambers.

 Engravings and petroglyphs, statuettes, vessels decorated with beautiful anthropomorphic and zoomorphic representations, jewelry, elements of ceremonial use, work tools, musical instruments, utensils for the preparation of meals and other items of daily life are among the treasures that can be appreciated in El Paraíso Cave, found to contain some 2,000 authentic pieces that belonged to this Antillean aggroalpharero group.

An interesting exhibit is a replica of the Tobacco Idol, a sculpture of magical-religious character that was found at the beginning of the 20th century in Maisí, the easternmost tip of Cuba, and considered one of the most relevant Taino findings in the Caribbean.

 The space houses a burial site, with funerary niches and bones in the places they originally occupied, where one can see the mortuary offerings typical of the first settlers of these lands.

Also on display are the presumed remains of the cacique Guamá, legendary leader of the indigenous resistance to the European conquerors.

Caneyes and bohíos, rustic houses of the Tainos, and variety of sculptures recreating the typical activities of the community are combined to illustrate a typical pre-Columbian village.

With the altitude of the archaeological museum’s location, the fabulous views of Cuba’s first city and its beautiful bay are an additional treat for visitors venturing on an authentic journey into the past in one of the most significant regions of this Caribbean archipelago.