Where is Palacio de los Capitanes Generales located?

The palace stands on the eastern side of Plaza de Armas in Old Havana.

What museum operates inside the palace?

The building houses the Museum of the City of Havana, displaying art exhibitions, historical artefacts, and rooms preserved with colonial decoration.

Who designed the palace?

The building was designed by the Cuban architect and engineer Antonio Fernández de Trebejos y Zaldívar.

What materials were imported to construct the building?

Imported materials included Genoa marble, Málaga bricks, and Bilbao wrought-iron grilles.

What functions did the building serve throughout its history?

The palace served as the residence for Spanish governors, a prison in the west wing, the meeting place for the city council, the presidential palace of the Cuban Republic, and municipal offices before becoming a museum.

Who proposed the construction of the palace?

Governor Felipe de Fondesviela y Ondeano, marqués de la Torre, proposed building the palace after demolishing the Parroquial Mayor church.

Havana · Cuba

Palacio de los Capitanes Generales: what's nearby, how to get there and when to go · 2026

Long-term residents around Plaza de Armas trade modern amenities for stone courtyards, living beside the former governor residence and presidential palace that now holds the municipal museum.

Map of places

Within two hours

National Theater of Cuba≈ 55 min Plaza de la Revolución≈ 55 min

About the place

Standing along Plaza de Armas, the palace housed imperial governors, foreign military commanders, and early presidents before becoming the municipal museum.

Governor Felipe de Fondesviela cleared the Parroquial Mayor church to reshape the square with grander civic architecture. Antonio Fernández de Trebejos y Zaldívar designed the palace in imitation of the nearby Royal Post Office. Builders imported bricks from Málaga, iron grilles from Bilbao, and Genoa marble, relying on enslaved labour until Governor Luis de las Casas occupied the unfinished halls.

Read on

The complex combined executive apartments, city council chambers relocated after hurricane damage in Plaza San Francisco, and a prison wing. Imperial rule ended under the Treaty of Paris, transferring the premises to foreign military governors and later the first presidents of the republic. When administrative offices moved elsewhere, the halls reopened as the municipal museum, displaying regional art and period rooms.

Associations

Plaza de ArmasThe redesigned square established a formal civic core around the palace.
Enslaved labourForced labor drove prolonged structural work across successive administrations.
Treaty of ParisThe agreement concluded imperial Spanish control over the executive headquarters.
West wing prisonA municipal detention facility operated beneath the colonial executive quarters.

Facts

Architect Antonio Fernández de Trebejos y Zaldívar drew inspiration from the Royal Post Office when designing the palace.
Construction materials were imported from abroad, including Genoa marble, Bilbao ironwork, and bricks from Málaga.
The city council relocated its meeting chambers to the property after a hurricane battered its earlier headquarters.
The structure served as the presidential palace of the republic before leadership relocated to the site of the Museum of the Revolution.

Updated September 21, 2026Source: Wikipedia

Palacio de los Capitanes Generales: what's nearby, how to get there and when to go · 2026

What is around8

Standing along Plaza de Armas, the palace housed imperial governors, foreign military commanders, and early presidents before becoming the municipal museum.

Getting there and staying

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