Santa Clara - Teatro de la Caridad

The Teatro de la Caridad in Santa Clara was built in 1885 but has been renovated several times. Despite the renovations much of the original interior, including furniture, artwork and décor, remains much as it did when the theatre opened. During its time, the Theatre de la Caridad also operated a number of additional businesses in the building, including a restaurant, ballroom and even a barbershop. These businesses generated money that was at least in part given to charity, thus the name of the theatre, which translates in English to "Charity Theatre". The reason for this is largely due to the fact that it was built for the heiress Martha Abreu de Estevez, who contributed to building many of the public service buildings in Santa Clara.