Fragua Martiana

The Fragua Martiana

The Havana audio-guided tour invites you to quiet contemplation at the Fragua Martiana, a place of memory built on the site of the former quarries of San Lázaro, where prisoners were once subjected to forced labour.

The memory of a young José Martí

It was in these quarries that the young José Martí, future apostle of Cuban independence, was subjected to forced labour. Very early engaged in militancy, he founded at sixteen an anticolonial newspaper. Accused of treason, he was condemned to hard labour, spent a few months at the quarries of San Lázaro, then was sent into forced exile in Spain. Since 1952, the museum of the Fragua Martiana, declared a national monument in 1996, commemorates with gravity this painful episode of his life.

What there is to see

The museum keeps, in contemplation, personal effects of José Martí and a moving life-size statue, the work of the artist José Villa Soberón, which represents him in prisoner's clothes, irons on his feet, after the only photograph sent to his mother during this period. It is a poignant place of memory, to be discovered with respect, which sheds light on the destiny of one of the greatest figures of Cuba.

Practical information

The Fragua Martiana is in the Vedado district, in Havana, on the site of the former quarries of San Lázaro. A place of memory, it can be visited according to its own hours, liable to vary; it is appropriate to enter with the respect due to what it commemorates.

What does the Fragua Martiana commemorate?

The forced labour endured by the young José Martí at the quarries of San Lázaro, before his exile; it is a place of memory dedicated to him.

What can you see at the Fragua Martiana?

Personal effects of José Martí and a statue representing him in prisoner's clothes, after the only photograph of this period.