On the [node:60589 link Plaza de la Catedral east side is the Casa de Conde de Lombillo (tel. 07/860-4311, Mon.–Fri. 9 a.m.–5 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.–1 p.m., free). Built in 1741, this former home of a slave trader houses a small post office (Cuba’s first), as it has since 1821. The building now holds historical lithographs.

The Casa de Conde de Lombillo adjoins the Casa del Marqués de Arcos (closed to visitors), built in the 1740s for the royal treasurer. What you see is the rear of the mansion; the entrance is on Calle Mercaderes, where the building facing the entrance is graced by the Mural Artístico-Histórico, by Cuban artist Andrés Carrillo.

The two houses are fronted by a wide portico supported by thick columns.

Note the mailbox set into the outside wall, a grotesque face (that of a tragic Greek mask) carved in stone, with a scowling mouth as its slit. A life-size bronze statue of the late Spanish flamenco dancer Antonio Gades (1936–2004) leans against one of the columns.