The history of the property that houses the Hotel Beltrán de Santa Cruz is closely tied to Havana’s socioeconomic and urban evolution. Its origin dates back to the 18th century, a time marked by significant governmental, administrative and commercial transformations in the Cuban capital, among which the establishment of the Tobacco Estanco in 1717, the founding of the Royal Company of Commerce of Havana in 1739, the English occupation of the city in 1762, Cuba’s reintegration into the Spanish community in 1763 and the authorization of free trade with Spanish ports in 1778.

With the economic boom, the local oligarchy emerged as a powerful social class, taking an active interest in the development of its city, streets and services. They largely saw the city of their birth as their true homeland, so they did not identify specifically with the Metropolis, but they still considered themselves “Overseas Spaniards.”

In this context, Havana witnessed the construction of monumental buildings, until then only represented by the fortifications built in previous centuries. Thus, the houses abandoned the modesty of their anonymity to be identified with the name of the wealthy Creoles, many of them bearing noble titles. Consequently, the narrative shifted from referencing a house on a certain street of unknown or trivial ownership, to naming them as the mansions of the Count of Jaruco, of the Marquis of Arcos, of the Pedroso, Aróstegui, Basabe, Chacón families…

The residences of Havana’s patriciate were designed as grand palaces, expanding over time to contribute to the monumental character that now defines Old Havana. The earliest examples of this architectural style appeared around the city squares, and its history is closely connected to the Beltrán de Santa Cruz family.

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When the Plaza Nueva was outlined in 1559 – Plaza Vieja after the opening of the Plaza del Cristo in 1640– it was envisioned as a rectangular space for markets and public festivals This dictated that the surrounding lots served only for residential construction, excluding churches or civil buildings. Consequently, the homes built there featured front portals, signifying social status and serving as both an ornamental feature of the town and a protective measure for its inhabitants.

Precisely one of the requests to add portals to the houses around the square was submitted to the council on July 18, 1670, by Pedro Beltrán de Santa Cruz. He was the first of his family to settle in Havana, serving as an accountant and president of Cuba’s Royal Court of Accounts, established in 1628. He was the great-grandson of Juan de Santa Cruz, conqueror of the Canary Islands and New Granada, where he founded the city of Santa Cruz de Mompox in 1540 on the banks of the Magdalena River. His marriage to Isidora de Noriega Venegas y Recio, a Creole and descendant of the city’s founding conquerors, elevated his social standing.

And although the plot to build the aforementioned house was in the Plaza Vieja but not in the vicinity of our house, nor were the requested portals erected at that time, the anecdote serves to connect the history of the plaza with that of Pedro Beltrán de Santa Cruz’s family, whose descendants would build several homes in this privileged environment of colonial Havana in the following decades.

The mansion at 411 San Ignacio Street, now serving as the Hotel Beltrán de Santa Cruz, was commissioned between 1733 and 1752 by Antonia Aranda Avellaneda, the widow of Gabriel de Beltrán de Santa Cruz and Valdespino, along with their son Gabriel Beltrán de Santa Cruz y Aranda, who became the count of San Juan de Jaruco in 1770. The building was carried out at the back of the mansion that overlooks the Plaza Vieja, located at Muralla 11 corner San Ignacio, whose work was started by Gabriel de Beltrán de Santa Cruz y Valdespino himself and completed, after his death, by his widow and son. Both estates bear a striking resemblance, with the distinctive feature that our mansion was constructed at street level, lacking the portals and loggias typical of the square’s houses.

Our property is a splendid two-story house with a mezzanine, showcasing the fine carpentry of its ceilings and doors, the notable ironwork of its bars and railings, the grace of the arches adorning the central courtyard, its beautiful wall paintings and, notably, the tempered light that floods the entire building and filters through the colourful stained-glass windows on the upper level, bestowing a unique and remarkable ambiance.

In addition to the prominent families and personalities of Havana’s society who resided in this beautiful house, illustrious figures stayed there over time during their visits to the city, among them Baron Alejandro de Humboldt, a renowned German scientist known as the Cuba’s Second Discoverer, and the Duke of Orleans, who would later be crowned Louis Philippe I of France.

*Text written from the brochure “Una familia notable de La Habana del siglo XVIII: los Beltrán de Santa Cruz”, de Alicia García Santana (textos) y Julio A. Larramendi Joa (fotografías). Eds. Viajes y Representaciones, S.L., Hotel Beltrán de Santa Cruz y Ediciones Polymita, 2023.