Baracoa and the Russian woman who gave her name to a hotel

Located in a prime position, across the street from the seafront of Baracoa, in the province of Guantánamo, is the cozy 12-room hotel La Rusa, closely linked to a woman who lived in the so-called First City of Cuba.

Arriving visitors eager to experience the charms of the first settlement founded by the adelantado Diego Velázquez find in La Rusa a good place to rest, since it is near every historical, cultural or natural attraction in town.

The Russian woman was the artist Magdalena Menasses, whose stage name was Mima Rovenskaya, said to have been a lyrical singer, dancer and piano player who also performed in Havana while her partner, also a foreigner, tried to make his way in the business world.

Legend has it that in the 1930s the couple settled in Baracoa—the land of the best chocolate in Cuba—drawn by the growing local trade of agricultural products. They built a small lodging house right on the seashore and also made it their home, and even opened a restaurant on the top floor which soon became a most popular spot in town because of its great view over the sea.

The prestigious Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier was inspired by the Russian woman’s story to create one of the main characters of his novel The Rite of Spring.
She died in September 1978.