This chapter documents Cuba’s Spanish colonial period from its discovery by Columbus in 1492, the bloody struggle for independence from Spain in the 19th century, the Spanish-American War of 1898, and the establishment of the Cuban Republic in 1902. Following independence, an economic boom led to the construction of monumental civic buildings and palatial residences by Cuba’s new elite.

See "Then & Now" comparison photos of The Prado (1905 and 2007).