El Tivoli, Santiago de Cuba

Visit the popular neighborhood of El Tívoli in Santiago de Cuba, cradle of the peculiar tradition and culture of this city

El Tivoli, Santiago de Cuba
© Eduardo Arostegui

The El Tívoli neighborhood in Santiago de Cuba is one of the most iconic spaces of this Cuban city. Built in the seventeenth century, it is characterized by the cultural mix that has led to one of the most famous festivities in the town, the carnival.

To access this area, you must go to the popular Padre Pico stairs, one of the most popular and beautiful streets in the city built under the mayor of Emilio Bacardi. In its old streets you can sense the origin of this neighborhood, when poor Spaniards and Creoles settled in the area bringing with them their traditions and European architecture. At the end of the 17th century, a large French population from the Haitian Revolution also chose this area as their new home, bringing new workforce and French culture to the place.

These French immigrants settled in Santiago de Cuba built a Café Concert with a capacity of more than 300 spectators called “Le Tívoli”, a place that gained so much popularity that it began to dominate the entire area with a “more Cuban” pronunciation. In this way, the mixture of different cultures that takes place in this neighborhood gives rise to what is today the identity of Santiago, in which culture, tradition, party and the always happy atmosphere that predominate in the streets dominates.

It could not be otherwise that the Carnival, so popular in this city, was born in El Tivoli in addition to many other stories that have conditioned the musical, literary and artistic culture of the Cuban city. To get to know the country's highly acclaimed tradition, there is no better option than strolling through the streets of this charming neighborhood.

Interactive map:

Santiago de Cuba

What to see:

Museums:

Siboney

Parque Baconao (Baconao Park)

El Cobre

Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Cobre

Pico Turquino

Museo de la Plata (Silver Museum)

Other nearby destinations:

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✓ Disseminate Cuba, its culture and its heritage.
✓ Promote sustainable tourism.
✓ Support the local economy, prioritizing direct contact with Cuban agencies.
✓ Offer budgets without commitment and without cost, from the hand of Cuban experts.

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