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Located to the south of the Caribbean island of Cuba, Trinidad was founded by the Spaniard, Velazquez and in the 18th century, the city experienced great wealth and recognition through the cultivation of sugar cane. The exclusive palaces and villas of the sugar barons still leave their mark on the city with tall wooden gates, barred windows and original roof tiles that characterize the style of bygone days. The Palacio Padron is located on the Plaza Mayor, the centre of the city. A few years ago, the palace was lovingly restored in painstaking detail and transformed into an archaeological museum. Around the main square, the most beautiful palaces stand in rows and are an impressive indicator of the colonial lifestyle enjoyed by the former sugar aristocracy. The slave trade and the cultivation of sugar cane made the island’s inhabitants incredibly wealthy and Trinidad became the most important cultural and trade centre in the whole of Cuba. The former palace of the Cantero sugar barons now houses the Museo De Historia, an impressive building in the Calle Bolivar. Visitors can marvel at old timepieces, porcelain, furniture and valuable crystal chandeliers. The seven story Torre Iznaga rises menacingly into the sky, the bells of which once summoned the plantation slaves to work while watchmen surveyed the valley from above because of the fears of the plantation owners who believed that one day the slaves would rebel against them. Splendid exotic beauty in a land situated between sun and socialism, sugar and cigars, rumba and revolution. In Trinidad, it is as though everything is in a state of suspended animation waiting to be kissed awake.
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2009 DVD Releases
Africa
