CUBA, December 20, 2007.- Press coverage for the IV Petrocaribe Summit scheduled for Thursday and Friday in the south central city of Cienfuegos will be headquartered in the Palacio de Valle, a former palace and Cuban monument. Prensa Latina toured the press center for the regional meeting of energy integration, observing the characteristic organizational bustle where a few meters away, statesmen will be received in the Hotel Jagua that was built in 1959 on the original site of the palace gardens as a wedding present of Alejandro Suero to his daughter Amparo when she married the Spaniard Acisclo del Valle. The new owner, one of the richest in the city that earned the name of Cuban Pearl of the South, expanded the building with French, Italian, Arab and Cuban artisans who worked on imported materials such as marble, alabaster, bronze, crystal and ceramics from Spain, Italy and the United States and precious woods of the island. The main vestibule is in a primitive gothic style with a Mudejar influenced dining salon, a music and games room in the style of Luis XVI and other sections in the imperial style with coffered ceilings in gold. The upper floor is reached by a majestic marble staircase and is divided into eight bedrooms and two salons. Three towers top the building: one in a gothic-roman style, one Hindu and an Arab Minaret as well as a roof garden. It is an example of the luxurious style of living of the bourgeoisie of the time and is an assortment of building techniques and applied arts introduced in the country during the last century. (Cubaminrex-PL)
|