Antiguo Cafetal Angerona

Top choice


The Antiguo Cafetal Angerona, 5km west of Artemisa on the road to the Autopista Habana–Pinar del Río (A4), was one of Cuba’s earliest cafetales (coffee farms). Erected between 1813 and 1820 by Cornelio Sauchay, it once employed 450 enslaved people tending 750,000 coffee plants. Behind the ruined mansion lie the slave barracks, an old watchtower from which the slaves were monitored, and multiple storage cellars. Receiving few visitors, it's a great place to take creative photos as you quietly contemplate Cuba's past.

The atmospheric gray walls and arches surrounded by sugarcane and gnarly trees have the feel of a latter-day Roman ruin. Look for the stone-pillared gateway and sign on the right after you leave Artemisa.

The estate is mentioned in novels by Cirilo Villaverde and Alejo Carpentier, and James A Michener devotes several pages to it in Six Days in Havana.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Mausoleo a los Mártires de Artemisa

4 MILES

Revolution buffs may want to doff a cap to the Mausoleo a los Mártires de Artemisa. Of the 119 revolutionaries who accompanied Fidel Castro in the 1953…

2. Cafetal Buenavista

7.55 MILES

The most moving ruins in Las Terrazas are about 1.5km up the hill from the Puerta las Delicias eastern gate, and accessible by road. Cafetal Buenavista is…

3. Casa-Museo Polo Montañez

8.29 MILES

The former lakeside house of local musician Polo Montañez, regarded as one of Cuba’s finest-ever folk singers, is now a small museum containing various…

4. Galería de Lester Campa

8.32 MILES

Several well-known Cuban artists are based at Las Terrazas, including Lester Campa, whose work has been exhibited internationally. Pop into his lakeside…

5. La Plaza

8.37 MILES

In the middle of Las Terrazas village at the top of a large knoll, this mini-mall encompasses a cinema, a cafe, a library and a small ecomuseum that gives…

6. Hacienda Unión

9.89 MILES

About 3.5km west of the Hotel Moka access road, the Hacienda Unión is a partially reconstructed coffee-estate ruin that features a country-style…

7. San Pedro & Santa Catalina

11.36 MILES

These ruins of a 19th-century coffee estate are down a branch road at La Cañada del Infierno (Trail to Hell), midway between the Hotel Moka access road…

8. Salto del Arco Iris

12.44 MILES

The vegetation-rich 'rainbow falls' is a 22m-high cascade on the Arroyo Manantiales. The entrance to the park encompassing it is to the right just before…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "cuba/artemisa/attractions/antiguo-cafetal-angerona/a/poi-sig/1392719/1315016",
      "position": "superzone"
    }