2 Best Sights in Western Cuba, Cuba

This attractive, leafy square is the heart of the city. A bronze statue of 19th-century liberal revolutionary leader José Martí presides over the plaza, accompanied by a startling sculpture of a screaming, bare-breasted woman representing Cuba breaking free from her chains. Around the square are beautifully restored Neoclassical buildings, including the Museo Farmaceútico Triolet, the restored Sala de Conciertos José White, and the magnificently refurbished Velasco Hotel, next door to the handsome Velasco Theater. Nearby bookshops and cafés are bustling, and there's almost always some music or street theater going on in the square.

A little overwhelmed by passing traffic, this landmark square is the cultural hub of Matanzas, with the Matanzas Provincial Museum on one corner and the magnificent, neoclassical Sauto Theater (currently closed for restoration) taking up a whole side. In the middle of the square is the marble statue of an anonymous independence fighter known as El Soldado Desconocido (The Unknown Soldier). A couple of cafés face the theater and there's a modern art gallery (free) to browse.