Hemingway's Hemingway House Museum in Havana is a small two-story toca, comfortably standing in a large garden surrounded by trees. The house is located in the district of San Francisco de Paula, at a fair distance from the city center, and has its own name - Finca la Vigia, "House with a view". From here you can really see the sea shore.
On the Island of Freedom, Hemingway lived together for about twenty years, leaving him shortly before his suicide. Here in 1940 he acquired the "House with a view", built in 1886 by a Spanish architect. It was in this house that the Old Man and the Sea was written. The museum was opened in the homestead in 1962, a year after Hemingway's death, when the Cuban authorities somehow acquired a mansion. The official version said that the writer's wife, Mary Hemingway, voluntarily handed over the house with all the content to the government of Cuba.
Inside the museum, we tried with all thoroughness to recreate the life of the writer. As a result, here, first of all, full of books: racks stretch from floor to ceiling, and they are placed about nine thousand volumes in different languages. Immediately collected a lot of personal belongings of the writer: icons, photographs, letters, souvenirs and other things. In addition, the interiors reflect the predilections of Pope Ham, a lover of hunting and fishing. Here you can see his trophies, guns and tackles. And in the bedroom you can see the "same" typewriter.
In the garden stands "Pilar" - the favorite boat and the brainchild of the writer. On the "Pilar" was written many pages of great works, on it Hemingway, happened, lived, fished, traveled and even hunted for the German submarines. Here there is an interesting construction: a hut for creativity, built by Mary for her husband (he never used it). A little farther in the garden, near the pool, the cats and the writer's dogs are buried.
On the island and to this day very much honor the writer and even call him Cuban .After visiting the island, Mariel Hemingway, the writer's granddaughter, spoke in the following way: "Cuba has three icons: Che, Fidel and my grandfather" .Nevertheless, because of poor care, Hemingway's mansion was included in the list of attractions at greatest risk to the National Fund of the United States of America .More recently, the Cuban government has taken steps to restore it, and the restored museum reopened the doors for visitors in 2007 .But he still continues to be on the list of 11 sights outside the US territory under threat, and in a similar list of the world's 100 world heritage sites .The Americans offered the Cuban authorities financial assistance for the care of the museum house, but, of course, it was not accepted .
Living room, Ernest Hemingway House Museum |
Cabinet, Ernest Hemingway House Museum |
Kitchen, Ernest Hemingway House Museum |
Boat, Ernest Hemingway House Museum |