The most important cemetery in Cuba, the Santa Ifigenia is the final resting place of Fidel Castro, José Martí, and dozens of other figures from Cuban history. Martí's mausoleum is the centrepiece — a cylindrical tower designed so that sunlight illuminates his tomb at certain hours, emphasising the revolutionary motto that even in death he faces the sun. An honour guard changes every thirty minutes in an elaborate ceremony.
The cemetery dates to 1868 and its rows of elaborate neoclassical tombs tell the story of Santiago's upper classes through the independence wars and into the 20th century. Seeking out the soil from every country in Latin America, incorporated into the base of a monument, is worthwhile. Bring water — it is exposed and can be very hot. A taxi from the city centre takes about ten minutes.