Resumen

OROZCO MELGAR, María Elena. The Municipal Palace of Santiago de Cuba and the Recovery of Collective Memory. au [online]. 2015, vol.36, n.2, pp.19-40. ISSN 1815-5898.

The significance of the civic and political character of Santiago de Cuba’s Céspedes Park - the former Plaza de Armas -is undeniable. A diachronic study of this space suggests areadingwhich changes little across time,hencetheimportance of theconstruction ofthe city’s Municipal Palace in 1954 and its impact on collective memory. This investigation isbased on an analysis of the Plaza de Armas, its origins, its urban image and the design projects for the Palace from 1738 to 1951,based on iconographic material derived fromprimary sources. The analysisdemonstratedthat Santiago de Cuba’s Plaza de Armas has always been a multifunctional space identified in the local imaginary with the cathedral, during the colonial era and until the Municipal Palace was built, in 1954. Today, this area reflects a synthesis of the urban space where tradition and modernity coexist, and where the Palace stands as a symbol of Cuban identity, representing a new collective memory of Santiago.

Palabras clave : identity; urban image; neocolonial style; collective memory; Municipal Palace; Santiago de Cuba.

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