Martyrs Park

Parque de los Mártires (Martyrs Park) is the name of a park in Santa Clara, Cuba. It is located only a few blocks from Parque del Carmen and in front of Santa Clara railway station.

It is a triangular shaped area with many points of interests. Its center piece is a truncated column, the only one in rural Cuba in honor of those fighters who lost their lives in the Independence War. 18th and 19th century buildings surround the park. Although the passage of time and a lack of restoration have made the park lose its beauty, the Railway Station is still a nice example of colonial architecture a building donated to the city by philanthropist Marta Abreu. Across from the station a colonial wooden family house still stands. Another important building in the Park area is an art deco, former Spanish garrison transformed in a school after the Revolution. Its interior walls were considered the best example of The Vanguardist Movement Murals in all the country. The hand and brushes of most famous figures of Cuban Painting like Amelia Peláez once honored it. However, unfortunately the paintings have been almost completely lost. This building is a school for young children and has not been retouched for last five decades, bringing this landmark to disappear.

It is almost a rule of thumb that Main or Principal Plazas in every town or city in Cuba have a statue of poet and independence leader José Martí, consequently most of these parks are also named after him. Such is the case of Parque Marti in Cienfuegos Province, or the main park in coastal Caibarien city in Villa Clara Province, just to mention two of them. In Santa Clara contrary to this tradition, the statue of Marti is located here in Martyrs Park instead of Parque Vidal the main plaza of the city.

Oldest Domestic examples of architecture in the city are found in streets connecting this park with near Parque del Carmen traveling east of them towards Parque Vidal.