Museo Napoleónico

Top choice


Without a doubt one of the best museums in Havana and thus in Cuba, this magnificently laid-out collection of 7000 objects associated with the life of Napoleon Bonaparte was amassed by Cuban sugar baron Julio Lobo and politician Orestes Ferrara.

Highlights include sketches of Voltaire, paintings of the Battle of Waterloo, china, furniture, an interesting recreation of Napoleon's study and bedroom, and one of several bronze Napoleonic death masks made two days after the emperor's death by his personal physician, Dr Francisco Antommarchi. It's set over four floors of a beautiful Vedado mansion next to the Universidad de la Habana and has stunning views from its 4th-floor terrace.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Museo de Historia Natural Felipe Poey

0.06 MILES

Inside the Universidad de la Habana, this is the oldest museum in Cuba. It was founded in 1842 by the Royal Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural…

2. Museo Antropológico Montané

0.06 MILES

The Museo Antropológico Montané, on the Universidad de la Habana campus, was established in 1903 with a rich collection of pre-Columbian artifacts,…

3. Monumento a Julio Antonio Mella

0.09 MILES

At the bottom of the Universidad de la Habana steps is a monument to the student leader who founded the first Cuban Communist Party in 1925. In 1929 Cuban…

4. Universidad de la Habana

0.11 MILES

Founded by Dominican monks in 1728 and secularized in 1842, Havana's university began life in Habana Vieja before moving to its present site in 1902. The…

5. Mella Portraits

0.11 MILES

Opposite the Monumento a Julio Antonio Mella outside the Universidad de la Habana are black-and-white Mella portraits permanently mounted on the wall in…

6. Convento & Iglesia del Carmen

0.18 MILES

This little-visited church’s bell tower dominates the Centro Habana skyline and is topped by a huge statue of Nuestra Señora del Carmen, but the real…

7. Hotel Habana Libre

0.25 MILES

This classic modernist hotel – the former Havana Hilton – was commandeered by Fidel Castro's revolutionaries in 1959 just nine months after it had opened,…

8. Quinta de los Molinos

0.34 MILES

The former stately residence of Independence War general Máximo Gómez, the Quinta sits in lush surroundings that have been managed as botanical gardens…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "cuba/havana/vedado/attractions/museo-napoleonico/a/poi-sig/370295/1341263",
      "position": "superzone"
    }